Russia aims to reclaim Soviet space glory with 2036 launch of ambitious Venus mission

The nation wants to launch Venera-D — a multi-vehicle mission involving a lander, balloon and orbiter — to Venus in 2036, Russian state media said on Tuesday (March 10).

Venera-D has been in the works since 2003, according to RussianSpaceWeb. Once upon a time, before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Venera-D was even considered as a possible joint mission with NASA.

While NASA is no longer collaborating on Russian space projects (apart from the International Space Station), Russia is still moving forward with Venera-D. The mission is said to be part of a suite of robotic spacecraft Russia plans to send to the moon and Venus, which "currently occupy a central place" in the ambitions of Russian space agency Roscosmos, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with the Razvedchik Journal, which was cited Tuesday by the state-owned Russian outlet TASS.