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The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is a collaborative project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to send an atmosphere research orbiter and the Schiaparelli demonstration lander to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars Programme. The Trace Gas Orbiter delivered the ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander and will start atmospheric mapping in 2017. A key goal is to gain a better understanding of methane (CH4) and other atmospheric gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity. The programme will follow with the Surface Science Platform and the ExoMars rover in 2020, which will search for biomolecules and biosignatures; the TGO will also operate as a communication link with Earth, and various landers and rovers. After Mars orbit injection, the orbiter will undergo several months of aerobraking to adjust its speed and manoeuvre into a 400 km-high circular orbit above the planet, with actual science activities beginning in late 2017.