Russia to scale back space programme as economic crisis bites

Low oil prices, western sanctions and a falling rouble have forced Moscow to rethink its ambitious plans for a Moon exploration, according to reports

Russia is revising the scale of its space programme, the national space agency has said, after a newspaper reported that the government may be forced into billions of dollars of cuts to its ambitious Moon exploration plans.

Several Russian government ministries were engaged in revising the space programme up to 2025, the Roscosmos agency said in a written statement to Reuters.