The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed the suspension of the Russian-European Exo-Mars mission and is looking for alternatives to carry out four other missions, after the suspension of cooperation with the Russian space agency Roskosmos due to the war in Ukraine.
In a statement, the governing council of the THIS commissioned its director to carry out a rapid study to relaunch ExoMars and look for alternatives for the other missions.
ExoMars was scheduled to launch a Mars-bound rover in September, with the help of a Russian launcher and landing structure.
Until now, ESA mission launches depended on the use of the Russian Soyuz launcher from the European spaceport of Kurú, in French Guiana.
Roskosmos has suspended Soyuz launches from Kuru in reaction to European sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also fired his team, made up of about 100 engineers and technicians.
Initially scheduled for 2020, the launch of Exo-Mars was postponed to September 2022 due to the pandemic.
The ESA rover, Rosalind Franklin, was to be transported by a Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and reach Mars thanks to the “Kazachok” landing platform, also Russian.
Other ESA missions that rely on the use of the Soyuz launcher were also suspended. These are two satellites destined for the European Galileo location constellation, the Euclid scientific mission and the European-Japanese earth observation mission EarthCARE.
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
