Russia Holding Firm on July 2022 Launch of Luna-25, Possible World’s First Soft Landing In MSP Region
In a country noted for scientific achievement, Russian Academy of Sciences President Alexander Sergeyev heralds Luna-25 as “main scientific event of 2022” for nation; The long-awaited mission features a 1,750kg Luna-Glob craft with 30kg payload capacity for 9 science experiments probing exosphere plasma/dust, regolith, and imaging local environment to be launched from Vostochny spaceport via Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; Landing site near Boguslavsky crater at 69.55°S, 43.54°E would be southernmost lunar soft landing in history (currently held by Chang’e-4 at 45.5°S, 177.6°E)
New robotic landers are to join Chang’e-4 / Yutu-2 on lunar surface: NASA CLPS providers Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic lead Artemis Program with IM working on 2 Nova-C missions, IM-1 to Vallis Schröteri in Q1, IM-2 to Shackleton connecting ridge Q4; Astrobotic Mission One with Peregrine, likely mid-2022 per 
Seeking to establish commercial access to the lunar surface, pilot phase of Lunar Transportation / Exploration Program began November 24 with MoU signing specifying 15-kg lander payload space / 5-kg rover payload space on missions beginning 2024 if ESA evaluation panel approves partnership NET 2022; Arrangement would see ispace landers launched on Ariane 6 rockets; ArianeGroup currently enjoys good working relationship with ispace EU, building propulsion elements for series 1 lander set for late 2022 launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
NASA 
With relations normalized under 2020 Abraham Accords, UAE and Israel now leading way forward with space diplomacy centered on US$100M Beresheet 2 lunar lander under MoU signed by (L-R) UAESA Chairwoman Sarah Al Amiri and Israel Minister of Science & Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen; Beresheet 2 data to be used in educational program to precisely determine New Year under Islamic and Jewish lunar calendars; Data-sharing project in support of agriculture / climate monitoring from VENµS Israeli / France 12 spectral-band small sat also in works
Analysis of Moon rocks (~1,731g) collected within Oceanus Procellarum (43.06°N, 51.92°W), first returned to Earth in half century, show volcanism persisted longer than previously believed, until ~ 1.96 Gya ± 57 Ma – 1Gy older than Apollo samples indicate; Study conducted by Sensitive High Resolution Ion MicroProbe Center in conjunction with McDonnell Center for Space Sciences and Australia, UK, Sweden partners concludes “alternate explanations are required for the longevity of lunar magmatism”; co-author Brad Jolliff heralds international effort as “diplomacy by science”; Chang’e-6 to target MSP 2024
CEO Pavlo Tanasyuk indicates UK company Spacebit will plant Ukraine national flag on Moon, held aloft by Ukrainian-mined titanium pole along with radiation and thermal sensors; Comments given during National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai (a 182-day event hosted on 4.4 km2 grounds in UAE) were unclear on which lander will be booked for mission, with Astrobotic to deliver 1.4-kg Asagumo walking rover on Peregrine and unspecified Spacebit payload on Intuitive Machines IM-1; Both CLPS providers striving for Q1 2022 launch
Engineers at UArizona developing robot swarm mining techniques for lunar application under NASA Minority University Research and Education Project Space Technology Artemis Research (M-STAR) fund; Human and Explainable Autonomous Robotic System (HEART) is collaboration between Moe Momayez (L) of Mining & Geological and Jekan Thanga of Aerospace & Mechanical engineering departments aimed at melding excavation, ISRU, machine learning, economical 3D printing in support of robotic and human exploration; Efforts may be precursor to Von Neumann-style self-replication
Astrobotic now employs 150+ from Pittsburgh HQ, from which Peregrine lander (100kg capacity) to be controlled as it descends onto and operates from Lacus Mortis in 2022; AON3D of Montreal to supply additive 3D printed components, funded by $11.5M investment round; CAES of Arlington providing avionics flight control processor; Griffin lander (500kg capacity) to deliver VIPER / Neutron Spectrometer System by 2024; PRISM-identified science missions 1A to Reiner Gamma, 1B to Schrödinger crater in 2024; 2A with 6° of MSP, 2B to Gruthuisen Domes in 2025 yet to be awarded to CLPS providers