ExoMars mission suspended. The European Space Agency is looking for a way to move forward without the involvement of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, which means the mission’s future is uncertain for now.
ESA had previously imposed sanctions against Russia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and announced that a 2022 launch for the ExoMars rover was highly unlikely. Now, the governing council has met in Paris to assess the situation and the task has been formally suspended.
ESA said in a statement: “As an intergovernmental organization tasked with developing and implementing space programs with full respect for European values, we deeply condemn the human losses and tragic consequences of aggression against Ukraine. ESA’s impact on the scientific exploration of space. While accepting it, it is fully compatible with the sanctions imposed on Russia by its member states.”
The Council decided that it was impossible to continue cooperation with Roscosmos and ordered the ESA Director-General to take steps to suspend the operation. In addition, the council authorized the managing director to conduct and fast-track an industrial study to come up with options for how the agency could move forward for ExoMars.
ExoMars is a two-part mission, and agencies sent the first spacecraft, the Trace Gas Orbiter, into Mars orbit in 2016. After delays partly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the second part of the program had to launch an rover named after scientist Rosalind Franklin this year. ESA was responsible for developing the reconnaissance vehicle, which would use a Russian launch vehicle and landing craft.
This is just one of the space programs affected by the war in Ukraine. Roscosmos had previously withdrew from the Guyana Space Center in retaliation to EU sanctions, and also refused to launch OneWeb internet satellites that were supposed to go into orbit with Soyuz rockets. Roscosmos Managing Director, Dmitry Rogozin, also claimed that the sanctions against Russia could disrupt the operations of the country’s spacecraft that manages the ISS and cause the station to “fall into the sea or on land”. Russia has also stopped supplying rocket engines to the USA…
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