Mars-Grunt

Mars-Grunt (also called Expedition-M) is a planned robotic mission to bring Martian soil back to Earth. The Russian Space Research Institute put forward the proposal to Roscosmos. As of September 2023, the mission is scheduled to launch after the success of Boomerang (Fobos-Grunt-2), which is expected sometime after 2030.

If funded by Roscosmos, the Russian Space Research Institute and NPO Lavochkin would develop it, building on technology from the Fobos-Grunt mission. The lander would be dome-shaped, separating from the orbiter and entering the Martian atmosphere inside an inflatable rubber braking cone, then firing retrorockets for a soft landing. A robotic arm would collect about 0.2 kg of samples, and a small rocket on top of the lander would launch the ascent vehicle to rendezvous and dock with the orbiter, transferring the soil sample to the return vehicle.

The cruise stage, called PM (Pereletny Modul) and sometimes referred to as Flagman, closely resembles the Fregat-M stage. It was originally developed for Fobos-Grunt, and its basic design is intended to serve as a platform for a whole generation of future planetary missions, including Luna-Glob, Luna-Resurs, and Luna-Grunt to the Moon; Venera-D to Venus; Mars-NET and Mars-Grunt to Mars; and possibly Sokol-Laplas to Jupiter. NPO Lavochkin has stated that, in different configurations, the same bus could be adapted as an orbiter or a lander.

The mission will proceed only if the technology being developed for Luna-Glob (to the Moon) and Fobos-Grunt-2 (to Mars’ moon Phobos) proves successful. Tasks set by NPO Lavochkin and Roscosmos include: delivering substance samples from Mars to Earth; refining engineering and technical models of the Martian atmosphere and surface; performing detailed geochemical analysis of Martian soil; and studying the interaction processes between the atmosphere, solar radiation, and the Martian surface.