Russia To Launch ‘Venera-D’ Mission; All Set To Revisit Venus Before 2036

Russia is all set to launch its Venera-D interplanetary mission to revisit Venus before 2036. The preparations for the mission are already underway, as per the media reports.

The head of the Department of Planetary Physics at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Oleg Korablev, stated that the mission is now a part of the country’s new national space program.

The preliminary design work on the mission will begin in January 2026, which will coincide with the start of the national space project.

Meanwhile, the draft design will likely take two years, and preparations have commenced in collaboration with the Lavochkin Association, a Russian space industry enterprise, which includes a number of coordination meetings to streamline progress, stated Oleg Korablev.

Further, Oleg noted that the mission’s launch date will be determined after the design stage is complete.

“But it will definitely take place within the current planning period, no later than 2036,” he added.

What is the Venera-D Interplanetary Mission?

Russia plans to revisit Venus with the Venera-D mission before 2036, sending a lander, a balloon probe, and an orbital spacecraft.

Earlier this year, IKI’s scientific director and academician Lev Zeleny said the launch is unlikely before 2034 or 2035.

In 1975 and 1982, four of the Soviet Union’s Venera probes captured the only images of Venus’ surface.

The Veneras, which means ‘Venus’ in Russian, scanned the surface back and forth to create panoramic images of their surroundings.

They revealed yellow skies and cracked, desolate landscapes that were both alien and familiar—views of a world that may have once been like Earth before experiencing catastrophic climate change.

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