Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused the European Space Agency to suspend a joint mission with the country to explore Mars.
The second part of the ExoMars program, involving a robot rover, was originally scheduled to launch this September, with the help of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency. But on Tuesday, the ESA announced it had to suspend the mission, citing the European Union’s sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine.
“While recognising the impact on scientific exploration of space, ESA is fully aligned with the sanctions imposed on Russia by its Member States,” the European Space Agency said.
The ESA’s ruling council concluded “the present impossibility” of carrying out the ExoMars launch in 2022 with Roscosmos. In response, the space agency has ordered a “fast-track industrial study” to find alternatives for the ExoMars mission, such as using the ESA’s upcoming Ariane 6 rocket, which is scheduled to debut later this year.
The suspension occurs weeks after the ESA warned it was unlikely the ExoMars mission would proceed this year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. So the news isn’t a surprise, but it’s still a disappointing loss for the astronomical community. The ESA has been spending years designing its Mars rover, which is capable of studying the planet for past signs of alien life.
It’ll also probably take some time for the ESA to find an alternative way to deliver its rover to the Martian surface. The space agency originally planned on sending its rover to the planet using a Russian Soyuz rocket. In addition, the rover was supposed to be carried inside a separate robot from Roscosmos, capable of landing on Mars in one piece.