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Mission record

Luna 15

Also known as Lunik 15, Luna15

U.S.S.R · Launched

Explore trajectory

Failed · Failure

A Soviet attempt to return a lunar sample ahead of Apollo 11; it reached lunar orbit but was lost during its landing attempt.

Destinations
Moon
Launch vehicle
Proton Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages
Launch site
Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R
Countries
Soviet Union
Mission types
Orbiter, Sample return

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Luna 15 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome

  2. Milestone

    Retrorockets fired to begin the descent

    Moon

  3. Impact

    Luna 15 impacted the lunar surface

    Moon

  4. Orbit insertion

    Luna 15 entered lunar orbit

    The cited page prints "It reached the Moon on 17 June at 10:00 UT", a date that precedes the 13 July 1969 launch the same page records. The date is left unrecorded rather than adjudicated.

    Moon

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Luna 15 · Spacecraft

    Destinations: Moon

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 27, 2026