The war in Ukraine is threatening to derail a joint European-Russian space mission to explore Mars for signs of life.
The European Space Agency originally planned on launching the second part to its ExoMars mission in September, with the help of Russia’s Roscosmos space program. But On Monday, the ESA said it was sanctioning Russia in response to the country’s ongoing effort to invade Ukraine.
The ESA is still assessing how the sanctions will affect its relationship with Russia’s space program. But in the meantime, the organization said: “Regarding the ExoMars programme continuation, the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely.”
The news will disappoint anyone looking forward to the ExoMars mission delivering a new mars rover to the Red Planet. The ESA's "Rosalind Franklin" rover was originally scheduled to land on Mars in 2023 with a state-of-the-art laboratory onboard, capable of detecting signs of long dead or existing microbes on the Martian surface.
However, the rover isn't supposed to arrive alone. A separate landing robot from Roscosmos, named "Kazachok," is actually supposed to carry Rosalind during the descent to the planet and then act as a stationary platform.
The ESA said it was necessary to impose sanctions on Russia, citing the “human casualties and tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine.” “Many difficult decisions are now being taken at ESA in consideration of the sanctions implemented by the governments of our Member States,” the ESA’s director general Josef Aschbacher wrote on Twitter.
The deteriorating relationship between Europe and Russia could also affect other space launches. The ESA noted that Russia’s Roscosmos had already withdrawn workers for its Soyuz rockets from its launch site in South America.
Despite the setback, it’s possible the ESA could find another launch provider for the ExoMars program, although any adjustments would likely take time. “ESA’s Director General will analyze all the options and prepare a formal decision on the way forward by ESA Member States,” the European Space Agency added.