MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - The sanctions imposed by the West on Russia will hopefully have a limited impact on the Russian-European Mars research program, Igor Komarov, the head of the United Rocket and Space Corporation, said Friday.
“In terms of the Mars research that we are conducting in cooperation with the European Space Agency…I hope it will not be severely affected by the sanctions, although it may,” Komarov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television channel.
Komarov emphasized that the projects are carried out for scientific rather than political purposes.
In 2012, the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) agreed on developing the so-called ExoMars program.
The research program includes the launch of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), with the goal of gaining more information on atmospheric gases present in low concentrations. The project also entails the exploration of ice in Mars’ soil, as well as landing of the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM).
The Mars rover is expected to land in 2018 and perform geological analysis of the planet’s soil and search for traces of life.
Earlier in August, Daniel Rodionov, a Russian scientific supervisor for the ExoMars project, said that Russia would create a landing deck and provide a range of scientific equipment for the program.
