Kazachok

The ExoMars Kazachok was a planned robotic <a href="/facts/Mars_lander/sWzMuVfW">Mars lander</a> led by <a href="/facts/Roscosmos/GzWfae7U">Roscosmos</a>, part of the <a href="/facts/ExoMars/LjWF3wIT">ExoMars</a> 2022 joint mission with the <a href="/facts/European_Space_Agency/L8YRNV0C">European Space Agency</a>. Kazachok translates as "Little <a href="/facts/Cossack/gqGJ4JKe">Cossack</a>", and is also the name of an <a href="/facts/Kozachok/v8H93p90">East Slavic folk dance</a>.
The plan called for a Russian <a href="/facts/Proton-M/F9I5QHR7">Proton-M</a> rocket to launch the Russian-built lander that to deliver the <a href="/facts/Rosalind_Franklin_(rover)/ISJKlWXk">Rosalind Franklin rover</a> to the surface of Mars. Once safely landed, Kazachok would have deployed the rover and start a one Earth-year mission to investigate the surface environment at the landing site.
The spacecraft was scheduled to launch in 2020 and land on Mars in mid 2021, but due to the failure of the entry parachutes to pass testing, the launch was moved to 20 September 2022.
In March 2022, amidst the backdrop of the <a href="/facts/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/TTeQCgSl">Russian invasion of Ukraine</a>, the European Space Agency voted to suspend their cooperation with Russia on the ExoMars mission.

Kazachok open-in-new

Kazachok