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Wikipedia has a list of missions to Venus. The Soviet Union has the first and highest number of both attempts and successful missions to Venus. Starting in 1961, they often attempted more than one mission each year. However, the Soviet missions abruptly stopped at the end of 1984.

Why did the Soviet Union stop sending spacecraft to Venus in 1985?

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    $\begingroup$ Due to the collapse of the USSR and the events preceding this. $\endgroup$
    – A. Rumlin
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 6:03
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    $\begingroup$ @A.Rumlin: The year that the Soviet Union collapsed was not 1985. $\endgroup$
    – DrSheldon
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 6:15
  • $\begingroup$ "Mikhail Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991". In other words, the USSR ended in 1985. $\endgroup$
    – A. Rumlin
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 6:24
  • $\begingroup$ @A.Rumlin: It sounds reasonable that Gorbachev had a role in ending the Venus programs. If you can find some supporting evidence for this, then you will have a good answer. Gorbachev may also have caused the collapse of the USSR, but this seems to be a different effect, instead of the direct cause of the end of the Venus programs. $\endgroup$
    – DrSheldon
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 6:57
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    $\begingroup$ @DrSheldon - honestly, economical problems of USSR started even before Gorbachev. It's a theme for long discussion, of course.. The problems vere compensated before, for exapmle by oil exports while oil prices were high. Gorbachev (and others in government) felt they need reforms. But as result the reforms just made the situation worse. Another factors - USSR had two expensive space programs to complete: Mir station and Energia-Buran lauch system. Phobos space probes were in development too (USSR didn't fly to Mars since 70s). So, there were not enough budget for everything. $\endgroup$
    – Heopps
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 9:00

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Venera-9 ... VEGA are built on the same basic platform, which has been modified over the years. By 1983, a spacecraft of the 1F series was developed, designed as a unified basic apparatus for carrying out multipurpose and diverse expeditions in order to study planets and small bodies (comets, asteroids, planetary satellites) of the solar system. The device can maneuver in the immediate vicinity of the surface of celestial bodies with a weak gravitational field. This spacecraft was to become the basis for Soviet interplanetary spacecraft for the following years. The first mission of this interplanetary station was a flight to Mars in 1988. On the problems faced by developers can be read here in the Russian language. In short, bad management and money. The same reasons that led to the collapse of the USSR. https://rumlin.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/o-gibeli-ams-fobos/

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  • $\begingroup$ great source :-) $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Sep 22, 2020 at 17:43

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