Moscow. December 4. INTERFAX-Dmitry Rogozin, Head of the Roscosmos state Corporation, reported on preparations for the launch of the ExoMars interplanetary space station as part of a joint effort with the European space Agency (ESA) to search for traces of life on the red planet.
"As part of the continuation of the Russian-European ExoMars project (the launch of the device to Mars with a proton-M rocket is scheduled from Baikonur in September 2022), experiments are being conducted with a test model of the Rosalind Franklin Rover, which is adapted to our Kazachok landing module," Rogozin tweeted on Friday.
Earlier it was reported that the Russian proton-M launch vehicle, equipped with the Briz upper stage, with the ExoMars station will launch on September 22, 2022 at 17: 10 Moscow time from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The backup date is October 1, 2022.
Landing of the lander on the Red planet after separation from the interplanetary station should take place in nine months-on June 10, 2023 at 18: 32.
In March of this year, ESA and Roscosmos announced the postponement of the launch of ExoMars from 2020 to 2022 due to the need for additional testing of updated equipment, as well as difficulties in operation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
ExoMars - a joint program of ESA and the Russian state Corporation "Roskosmos" Mars exploration, whose main goal is the search for evidence of past and present life on the red planet.
The ExoMars station consists of a European flight module and a Russian lander (landing module). The latter includes the Russian Kazachok landing platform and the European Rosalind Franklin Rover.