Russia will launch a mission to Mars in 2019 which if successful would beat NASA’s planned exploration of the red planet by a year.
Vladimir Putin revealed his country’s space plans during a documentary about the president which was widely shared on social media.
He said: "We are planning unmanned and later manned launches, into deep space, as part of a lunar program and for Mars exploration.
The closest mission is very soon, we are planning to launch a mission to Mars in 2019.".
"Our specialists will try to make landings on the poles, because there is reason to believe that there can be water there.
In 2011, the ill-fated Phobos-Grunt probe was unable to be fired toward the orbit of the red planet after launch.
The Russian space program Roscosmos worked with the European Space Agency in the Schiaparelli EDM lander mission, in which a Russian rocket was used. »
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