Tuesday evening, the director of the ESA, Josef Aschbacher announced in a terse tweet that he had been mandated by his council “to officially put an end” to cooperation with Roscosmos on ExoMars. “The circumstances that led to the suspension of this cooperation – the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions – continue to prevail”, he justified.
Contacted by AFP, ESA did not comment further on this announcement.
On March 17, the space agency, which brings together 22 European states, announced the suspension of the mission planning the launch in the fall of 2022 of an ESA rover bound for the planet Mars, using of a Russian launcher and lander.
Russia denounces “sabotage”
Denouncing a “sabotage”, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin asked the Russian crew of the International Space Station (ISS) “to stop working” with the ESA robotic arm dedicated to the Russian segment of the orbital station , just installed.
“Is Josef Aschbacher (…) ready to answer for the sabotage of a joint Mars mission? “Reacted the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, on Telegram. “In turn, I am ordering our crew on the ISS to stop working with the European ERA manipulator,” he said.
Launched into orbit in July 2021 after many delays, the robotic telescopic arm ERA (European Robotic Arm) was installed a few months ago outside the Russian module of the ISS. 11 meters long, it allows to carry out maintenance or equipment tasks, mainly on the Russian segment, and can be directed from inside or outside the station.
The ESA director recently reported “intense discussions” with NASA to conclude a “good partnership” with it to save the ExoMars mission. This one must drill deep into the ground of the red planet, in search of traces of extraterrestrial life.