The Scientific Production Association (NPO) named after S. A. Lavochkin, part of the structure of Roscosmos, is developing the project of the Russian interplanetary station "Boomerang" for soil extraction from the Martian satellite Phobos. The mission is planned to be launched after 2030 using the "Angara" launch vehicle from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

According to the NPO materials, the "Boomerang" mission will be the first stage of the "Expedition-M" project, aimed at exploring Mars and its satellites - Phobos and Deimos. The main tasks of the mission will be landing on these celestial bodies in zero-gravity conditions and delivery of soil samples from Phobos back to Earth.

As early as 2016, the technical task for the preliminary project mentioned plans to deliver about 600 grams of soil from Phobos to Earth. At that time it was asserted that such a mission would only be possible with cooperation from the European Space Agency. However, in November last year, the general director of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, reported that the European Space Agency had refused to work with Russia.

It is planned that the spacecraft "Boomerang" weighing 6.5 tons will be able to reach Mars, move to its orbits Phobos and Deimos, and then conduct their remote exploration. The task will also be a soft landing on the surface of Phobos and collection of soil samples. After that, the return craft will set off with the samples to Earth and land in Russia.

Yesterday it became known that flight tests of the latest Russian launch vehicle "Angara-A5" will be completed in 2024.