MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The first crewed flight using Russia’s new generation of spacecraft is expected in 2028-2029, the general designer of crewed space systems has said.

Vladimir Solovyov, the general designer of the space rocket corporation Energia, made the announcement at a conference on space biology and aerospace medicine.

Solovyov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented the director of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Oleg Orlov, with a model of the yet-to-be created spacecraft as a gift on the occasion of the institute’s 60th anniversary.

"Get ready. We expect that in 2028-2029 this spacecraft will send the cosmonauts you select into space," Solovyov said. He recalled that the spacecraft was designed for a future lunar mission.

He also touched upon further plans for Russia's manned program, including the exploration of the fourth planet from the Sun.

"We will definitely fly to Mars, too," Solovyov said, noting that the national space rocket industry and its specialists’ mission was to help explore space steadily and safely.