Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has recently announced its partnership with China’s Mars Exploration Program at an official press conference in Beijing.

The mission will explore the red planet using an unmanned Mars Rover and will for the first time conduct research on the planet’s soil, environment and atmosphere. With this program Tag Heuer renews its links with the conquest of space after having been the first Swiss watch in space in 1962.

At a press conference the Chinese program was revealed by Jizhong Liu, representing the Lunar Exploration Program and the Space Engineering Center, and Ronggiao Zhang, chief designer of China’s Mars Exploration Mission.

This is not TAG Heuer’s first foray into space. On February 20, 1962, TAG Heuer became the first Swiss watchmaker in space by providing the stopwatch worn by U.S. astronaut John Glenn. NASA selected TAG Heuer after the repeated failures of other watch brands on earlier flights and the Swiss watchmaker’s ability to withstand the high G-forces of lift-off.

TAG Heuer has since taken part in other space missions including in 2012, when the Carrera Calibre 1887 was brought to the International Space Station to test its reliability under the most extreme circumstances ever.

What’s more, TAG Heuer will soon take part in the Swiss Space Systems program that will for the first time enable the public to experience zero gravity. The Swiss watchmaker continues on its ongoing mission to set new records for accuracy and push the frontiers of watchmaking all the way into space…