MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The Kremlin welcomes NASA’s successes in the exploration of Mars, but at the same times calls for not forgetting about the national space program.

"Any success deserves praise. Our country has its own ambitious space exploration program. Let us not forget about it, too," presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov told the media.

"Any successes in the exploration of outer space are an asset of the whole of humanity and they can be only welcomed," Peskov said. He stressed that each country that had its own space program was in competition with others in the good sense of the word.

"Competition is a very effective driver of development," he stressed.

On Thursday, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars at Jezero Crater. Specialists will use it to search for traces that might confirm the existence of life on the Red Planet in the past.