BEIJING: China announced on Wednesday it will launch a joint mission with Russia to Mars in 2009, marking “an important milestone” in space cooperation between the two countries.

A small Chinese satellite will take off on a Russian rocket, according to the agreement signed on Monday between the China National Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Chinese space body said.

The agreement, signed during an ongoing three-day visit to Russia by Chinese President Hu Jintao, follows pledges by Moscow in recent months to work closely with Beijing on exploration of both Mars and the moon.

“This is an important milestone in Sino-Russian space cooperation,” the Chinese space administration said as it unveiled the details of the Mars mission in a statement posted on its website.

According to the agreement, a small satellite developed by China would be launched along with “Phobos Explorer,” a Russian spacecraft, probably in October 2009, the administration reported.

After entering Mars' orbit -- 10 to 11 months later -- the Chinese satellite would be detached from the spacecraft and probe the Martian space environment, it said.—AFP