How to do without the Russians? This is the question that stirred the council of the European Space Agency (ESA), meeting in Paris, Wednesday March 16 and Thursday March 17, 2022, in crisis management mode. Barely two days after the invasion of Ukraine and in retaliation for the sanctions imposed by the West, Moscow announced on February 26 to cease all Soyuz rocket launches from the European spaceport of Kourou, and to repatriate its 90 Russian employees present in Guyana. The European missions that were scheduled for the next few months for a Soyuz launch must now find a place on another vehicle if they ever want to reach space.
“We will explore all options. We have to make sure we have a solid launch plan for our satellites.”, summarized the director general of the ESA, Josef Aschbacher, in a press conference at the exit of the council. These include four Galileo satellites, which were to expand the fleet of the European GPS system, a French military satellite, the Euclid space telescope which was to leave at the end of 2022 in search of dark matter, and EarthCARE, a scientific program of Earth observation in collaboration with the Japanese.
The preferred paths to replace the Soyuz launch consist of finding a place on board European rockets, and in particular the brand new Vega C and Ariane 6. But each has its share of complications.
Vega C and its Ukrainian engine
Vega C is a small launcher, an improved version of the current Vega rocket. Its maiden flight is scheduled for May, but how many copies of the rocket will we be able to build after this inauguration? The second-stage engine of the Vega Cs is produced by Ukrainian companies, Yuzhnoye (for the design) and Yuzhmash (for the construction). Three first examples of this engine RD-843 have already been delivered to ESA for the first three take-offs. Now, in the context of the war, it is not at all certain that the activity can continue. Yuzhmash factories are located in the city of Dnipro, which has been bombed in recent days. “We are in daily contact with our colleagues from Yuzhmash”said Daniel Neuenschwander, director of space transport at ESA, and “we are in the process of evaluating availability for the next few months”.
Fall back on another engine equivalent to the RD-843 is always possible. Neuenschwander explains that he would prefer to find an engine designed in an ESA member state that could be adapted quickly to the second stage of Vega C. But “we are also studying non-European options, because the time factor is essential here, so we have to work with an engine that has the right degree of maturity”. The choice will be made to whoever is ready the soonest.
Ariane 6, a rocket not to be delayed
As for the big Ariane 6, it is not yet ready for the moment. Its maiden flight is scheduled for the end of 2022, and Josef Aschbacher assured that there was no question of taking risks by accelerating the schedule (the memory of the very first Ariane 5 flying into pieces in 1996 encourages with caution). It also does not look very hot to embark on the first flight one of the private launcher Soyuz satellites – the idea is not excluded, but not privileged. Especially since it would delay D-Day, and it is better “keep the current timing and then increase the pace”. For the moment, it is planned that the first Ariane 6 will take demonstrators and mini satellites to carry out scientific experiments.
Then remains the radical alternative of seeking a place on launchers from other countries. “First and foremost, we are going to focus on European launchers. And afterwards, if there are still gaps, we will look at the other partners., slice Aschbacher. Appointment is fixed in a month to make a new point on the distribution of the lost launches.
ExoMars suspended
The most painful subject of these two days of meetings was undoubtedly that of ExoMars, the great Martian mission on which Europe and Russia had been collaborating for ten years. Initially, it was a European project: the ESA wanted to send a lander to practice landing gently on the red planet by crossing its thin atmosphere, a satellite in Mars orbit to play the relay of communication and a ground rover to explore the planet in search of traces of past life. In 2012, the ESA announced that it had signed a deal with the Russian space agency: Roscosmos would take care of the launches with their Proton rocket, and the landing of the rover with its atmosphere entry “vehicle” and its parachutes. giants.
The first part of the ExoMars mission launched in 2016 was a semi-success: the TGO satellite went into orbit around Mars, but the lander Schiaparelli crashed (due to a computer problem). The second part was to leave Earth in the summer of 2020, sending the European rover to Mars Rosalind Franklin at the same time as the rover Perseverance Americans. But the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with technical problems with the parachutes, prompted the ESA to postpone take-off until 2022. This is because, to go to Mars while consuming a minimum of fuel, the right launch window only opens every two years, because of the respective position of the Earth and Mars around the Sun…
Good. It wasn’t for 2020 and it still won’t be for 2022. The ESA council concluded the meeting on Thursday by unanimously voting to suspend the ExoMars mission, due to “the impossibility of continuing cooperation with Roscosmos”. “We deplore the human victims and the tragic consequences of the aggression against Ukraineannounces the press release published by ESA. While acknowledging the impact of scientific exploration of space, ESA aligns itself with the sanctions that its member states impose on Russia.”
Rebuild Landing Vehicle
The European rover Rosalind Franklin is totally ready. Currently stored in a clean room at the Thales Alenia Space factories in Turin, it was waiting to be transferred to Baikonur in Kazakhstan for its take-off bound for Mars this summer. It will eventually stay in Italy, and some of its internal instruments supplied by Russia will have to be replaced. It will also be necessary to design and build from scratch a new platform to land the rover, because it is now out of the question to use “Kazachok”, that of the Russians, which is also patient in Turin. And, finally, find a rocket, and a launch date. A monster job that will take many more years, but it is the only option if Europe wants to save its 2 billion euro mission. “It’s a disappointment for everyone involved in the project.regrets David Parker, head of robotic exploration at ESA. It was an extremely difficult decision to make.” Parker sees two possible outcomes: a reconciliation with Roscosmos, which would perhaps allow take-off in 2024, or a total reconfiguration of the mission which would take him around 2026 or 2028.
An open door to NASA
From now on, each party reshuffles its cards to continue the mission alone. The head of the Russian space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, took note with regret of the European decision and affirms that Russia will succeed in going alone to Mars within a few years.
For its part, the ESA council has launched a plan of attack to find new partners. Knocking on NASA’s door could be a good idea: it was its initial partner when ExoMars was considered, but the withdrawal of the Americans – who preferred to focus on their own missions with Curiosity and Perseverance – forced Europe to turn to Russia. Today, the American space agency will no doubt be more inclined to support its Western partners. “Nasa has expressed its very strong desire to support us”, said Josef Aschbacher. The boss of the European agency tried to appease the frustration of his hundreds of engineers and researchers, not to mention all the enthusiastic space enthusiasts: “Even if we take off later, the scientific results that this rover will produce will still be exceptional, and the best in the world.”