Russia plans to send piloted rocket to Mars

Moscow: Russia plans to develop a new super-heavy carrier rocket that will be used to launch piloted spacecraft to Mars.

"The super-heavy carrier rocket will be based on the design of the Angara rocket and its modifications - Amur and Yenisei," Anatoly Kuzin, deputy general director of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, said.

Angara rockets - designed to provide lifting capabilities between 2,000 and 40,500 kg into low earth orbit - are expected to become the core of Russia's carrier rocket fleet, replacing several existing systems.

The rockets have a modular design similar to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), based on a common Universal Rocket Module (URM).

Russia will start testing first Angara rockets in 2013, while the first piloted mission to Mars under a unified Moon-Mars programme is expected to be launched in 2037.