Temporarily interrupted after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, relations between the European Space Agency (ESA) and its Russian counterpart are officially broken. The ExoMars mission will be done without Roscosmos.
Against the backdrop of the stalemate in the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which broke out at the start of the year, relations between the European Space Agency (ESA) and its Russian counterpart have logically deteriorated. And while the cooperation between the two agencies had been on hold for a few months, the ESA announced that it was definitely broken. At least on the ExoMars mission, which makes astronomy professionals and amateurs salivate.
“Consequently (from the war in Ukraine, editor’s note), the Council has mandated me to officially end the currently suspended cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform missions”said Josef Aschbacher, director of the ESA, in a series of tweets.
Without providing further details on the end of this collaboration, he specified that “new information on the way forward with other partners will be presented at a press conference” scheduled for July 20. ESA should thus strengthen its links with NASA around this mission.
As a consequence, Council mandated me to officially terminate the currently suspended cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform mission.
New insights on the way forward with other partners will come at a media briefing on 20 July, details to come.
— Josef Aschbacher (@AschbacherJosef) July 12, 2022
Last February, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced the temporary suspension of Soyuz rocket launches from French Guiana, pending an evolution in relations between Ukraine, Russia and Europe. With the situation stalled, the ExoMars firing window was missed. Indeed, this mission can only take off every 26 months or so, depending on the positions of Mars and the blue planet.