Mars Express lift off

The Soyuz FG-Fregat vehicle carrying Mars Express, ESA's first probe to the Red Planet, lifts off from launch complex no.31, in Baikonour, Kazakhstan, at 17:45:46 UT on June 2, 2003. The Euro-Russian Starsem joint-venture provided the launch.

Mars Express, consisting in a 1,223-kg orbiter carrying the 71-kg Beagle 2 lander, is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars on December 26, 2003. This is Europe's first own planetary mission.