Europe’s ExoMars rover, built to search for traces of life on the Red Planet, is unlikely to launch as planned in September aboard a Russian rocket as a result of sanctions rolled out by European countries in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The ExoMars mission, which comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter and the yet-to-launch U.K.-built Rosalind Franklin rover, is the European Space Agency’s most significant cooperation with Russia apart from the International Space Station. The mission, which ESA originally developed with NASA, faced cancellation in 2012 after the American space agency withdrew due to budget cuts under U.S. President Barack Obama.
The launch of the Rosalind Franklin rover, originally scheduled for 2018, was delayed due to issues with the parachute landing system first to 2020 and then, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, to 2022. Now, the future of the mission is uncertain as it would require considerable financial investment from ESA to replace the Russia-built systems.
ESA’s statement comes after Roscosmos announced over the weekend it would discontinue launching its Soyuz rockets from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana as a response to Europe’s sanctions against Russia. Europe’s space launch provider Arianespace has been using the midsize Soyuz since 2011 to complement its heavy-lift Ariane 5 and light Vega rockets.
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