MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2021) The planning of Russia's Venus mission has been financed for two years, Lev Zelenyi, science adviser of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian academy of Sciences told Sputnik.
"The financing has begun, it is enough for the design stage for the period of two years. As part of the Venera-D design project, other development projects will also be discussed. It will not be one single mission, but a complex program of future expeditions," Zelenyi explained.
Earlier this month, IKI planetary scientist Ludmila Zasova told Sputnik that Russia had already started designing its Venera-D spacecraft, which will be tasked with studying the surface of Venus.
The launch of the Venus mission is planned for 2029.
The mission was initially planned as a Russian-US venture. Last year, however, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said that the Venera-D mission was going to be an independent national project that was not expected to attract significant international cooperation.
