“There is a political meaning and objective to this mission: working together beyond national borders, beyond crises on Earth”, he told Bloomberg, adding, “We use a Russian launcher, with American contribution and it’s a European mission”.

The ESA’s ExoMars 2016 mission — carrying two Electra UHF, or ultra- high frequency, radios — launched from Kazakhstan and is expected to arrive at Mars in seven months.

This is a series of missions that’s trying to address one of the fundamental questions in science: is there life anywhere else besides the Earth? ExoMars is a two-phase mission, with the second phase to be launched in 2018.

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