The Union left Russia with a massive legacy, but taking over these legacies was not easy.
For example, to balance the member nations, the Union had distributed various production conglomerates everywhere. It was fine during the Union era, but now Russia had to figure out a way to replenish what other member nations had taken away if it wanted to do something.
But even after losing a large number of scientists, even with an economy far weaker than the Union's, and despite other issues, Russia was still universally recognized as the third most likely country to achieve a lunar landing.
The "Star of Asia," a collaboration between India and the Island Country, stumbled from the start. Two half-hearted space "powers" coming together clearly couldn't achieve 1+1=2. Even reaching 1+1=1.2 would be considered a miracle.
