Russia to begin Venera-D mission design, aims to revisit Venus before 2036

Russia plans to launch its Venera-D interplanetary mission to revisit Venus before 2036, and preparations are already underway, local media reported on Sunday.

The mission is now part of the country's new national space program, and preliminary design work on the mission will begin in January 2026, coinciding with the start of the national space project, said Oleg Korablev, head of the Department of Planetary Physics at the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as quoted by TASS news agency.

The draft design phase is expected to take two years, and preparations have commenced in collaboration with the Lavochkin Association, a Russian space industry enterprise, including multiple coordination meetings to streamline progress, said Korablev.

The scientist 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 said.

The Venera-D mission is planned to include 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.