ExoMars 2016: Spacecraft to search for life on Mars

A spacecraft set off for Mars on Monday on a mission that scientists hope will help answer one of the most burning questions of space exploration - is there life on other planets?

The craft, part of the European-Russian ExoMars programme, lifted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on board a Proton rocket at 9.31am (UK time), starting a seven-month journey through space.

It is carrying equipment to study gases around Mars, such as methane, which is a chemical that is strongly linked with life on Earth.

This is the first of two ExoMars missions, together costing £924 million, designed to uncover signs of past or present life on the Red Planet.

Watch Leah's report to find out more.