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The Roskosmos space agency gave plans to send a pair of humanoid robots called FEDOR into space the nod with the mission due to take place next August.

It comes as a bid to compete with scientists from other countries such as China which has a lunar lander on the moon and the US’s two operational Mars rovers.

Vladimir Putin approved plans in 2011 to send several vehicles to the Moon and Mars, though they all now defunct.

Russia’s two FEDORS, an acronym for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, are expected to “fly for the first time to the ISS as crew members, and not as cargo in the transport compartment", according to the RIA Novosti website.