By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-23 09:02

China and Russia are working together to ensure a joint exploration of Mars and one of the planet's moons proceeds as planned next year, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

A micro-satellite developed by China will be launched along with Russian spacecraft the "Phobos Explorer" from atop a Russian rocket in 2009 in an expedition to probe the red planet's environment, according to an agreement signed last March.

"The cooperation marks a new stage in space cooperation on a higher level between the two countries," CNSA told China Daily in a written reply on Thursday.

"(The cooperation in space) will play a positive, important role in solidifying the strategic partnership between two countries," it said.

China and Russia signed an inter-governmental space cooperation agreement in 1992 to focus on three fields: Satellites and application, space science and basic electronics.

A Sino-Russian space cooperation sub-commission was established in 2000, under which a joint working group on lunar and deep space exploration was formed five years later.

The achievement has turned out to be "fruitful", CNSA said.

In the past eight years, the two have signed nearly 100 contracts under 10-odd cooperative projects.

"This has fully demonstrated that there is a broad prospect of exchange and cooperation in aerospace between China and Russia," CNSA said.

According to earlier reports, the compatibility of the Mars probe's prototype and the Russian spacecraft will be tested this month.

But CNSA declined to confirm or reveal the project's progress on Thursday.

Wu Ji, director of Center for Space Science and Applied Research under the Chinese Academy of Science, said that the Mars probe could help garner an understanding of the Martian space environment, vital for carrying a manned flight to Mars.

So far, China has not revealed plans for a manned flight to the red planet.

Previously, the United States' fly-by Mariner 4 transmitted 21 images of Mars in 1964, the first successful exploration of the planet.

In 1971, the former Soviet Union's Mars 3 orbiter sent back data for eight months.

Launched in June and July, 2003, NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, twin robot geologists, touched down on January 3 and January 24 to search for rocks and soils that may hold clues to the past and current presence of water.