First Russian mission to the moon it failed 47 years later when the Luna 25 spacecraft went out of control and crashed into a satellite due to a problem preparing for an orbital landing, highlighting the post-Soviet demise of the once powerful space program.

Roskosmos, Russian state space companyreported that he had lost contact with the spacecraft due to a problem getting it into orbit before landing, which was scheduled for Monday.

“The device flew into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result impact with the surface of the moon– says the message of Roscosmos about the mission, which raised hopes in Moscow for a return to the lunar race of the great powers.

This failure highlights the decline of Russia’s space power since the glorious Cold War, when Moscow was the first launch a satellite into earth orbit Sputnik 1 in 1957, and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961.

It also comes at a time when Russia’s $2 trillion economy is facing its biggest external challenge in decades: the pressure of Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Although missions to the moon very difficult, and many US and Soviet attempts have failed, Moscow has not attempted a moon mission since Luna 24 in 1976, when Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin.

Russia competes with India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is due to land on the moon’s south pole this week, as well as China and the United States, which have cutting-edge lunar ambitions.