Russia plans to yearly carry out one or two launches of the manned spacecraft Federatsiya (Federation) to the Moon, sources from the TsNIImash leading institute of Roscosmos State Corporation told Tass on Saturday.

The lunar exploration program the institute works on envisages flyover and landing of astronauts on the Moon, as well as their delivery to the Earth-Mon libration point.

The sources said testing of a new spacecraft will start in 2021 with an unmanned launch from Russia’s new Vostochny spaceport in the Far Eastern Amur region. Two launches, both in unmanned and in manned mode, are envisaged for 2023.

The Angara A5B heavy carrier is to be used for the launches. Earlier reports said that in order to end flight testing of Federatsiya, four successful launches will be needed, including at least two in a manned mode, one of them with flyover of the Moon.

The Energia Rocket and Space Corporation is creating a new generation of spacecraft to replace the currently used Soyuz spaceships.