Venera-D probe for Venus exploration included in Russia’s national project

MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. The development and launch of a Venera-D (Venus-D) automatic interplanetary probe has been included in Russia’s national space exploration project, Head of the Planetary Physics Department of the Space Research Institute within the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Korablyov told TASS on Sunday.

"The funds have been allocated. Venera-D has been included in the ‘Space’ national project. This issue has been resolved at the government’s level," the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement timed for the 55th anniversary of the launch of the Venera-7 probe, the first space vehicle that had made a soft landing on Venus.

The conceptual design work will kick off in January 2026 along with the national project’s implementation, the scientist said.

"Over two years, we are set to develop a conceptual design. Meanwhile, we are discussing jointly with colleagues from the Lavochkin Research and Production Association how to arrange the process to make this work maximally efficient: we have already held a couple of conferences," he added.

The date of the Venera-D probe launch will be specified after the conceptual design is over, the scientist said.

"But certainly within the current planning period, no later than 2036," he said.

According to plans, the Venera-D mission will comprise a lander, an aerostatic probe and an orbiter. Scientific Head of the Space Research Institute, Academician Lev Zelyony said in the spring of this year that the probe’s launch could hardly be expected sooner than 2034-2035.