Russia's Roscosmos Chief Congratulates China On Successful Landing On Mars

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2021) Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, congratulated Chinese colleagues on Saturday with the successful landing of spacecraft on Mars.

Earlier in the day, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the China National Space Administration, that Chinese spacecraft Tianwen-1 with the country's first Mars rover Zhurong made a successful soft landing on the surface of the Red Planet.

"Roscosmos welcomes the revival of exploration of the solar system planets by the leading space powers. The successful landing of China's spacecraft on the surface of Mars is a great success of the PRC's fundamental space research program," Rogozin wrote on Telegram.

Roscosmos chief added that the Russian-European mission ExoMars is scheduled for Mars next year and affirmed Russia's commitment to strengthening international cooperation "for the joint promotion of research into the Universe."

Chinese probe was launched on July 23 last year and successfully entered Mars' parking orbit this February. Tianwen-1 is China's first independent mission to Mars and the world's 46th since 1960.