The European Space Agency (ESA) Council unanimously agreed, at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 March, that it was not possible to continue the ongoing cooperation with the Russian space agency Roscosmos on the ExoMars rover mission for launch this year.
ESA Director General Joseph Aschbacher told the press that the launch planned for September was no longer possible in both practical and political terms (see EUROPE 12901/12).
The ESA Council mandated it to take “appropriate measures” to suspend cooperative activities in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Mr Aschbacher is furthermore invited to carry out a study as soon as possible in order to develop options for continuing the Mars exploration project in spite of everything.
Mr Aschbacher also said that NASA was considering options for contributing to the project. The next launch window could be in 2024. In any case, the Director General assured, the mission is still relevant, as no other international mission will perform the tasks foreseen in the ExoMars programme.
In addition, following Roscosmos’s decision to withdraw its personnel from the Spaceport in French Guiana, all missions involving a Soyuz launch have been suspended. These are essentially four institutional missions for which ESA is the contracting entity for the launch service: Galileo M10, Galileo M11, Euclid and EarthCARE.
On this point, Mr Aschbacher said that an external group of experts had been set up to analyse all options within a month. The experts will have to determine whether there is a need for potential alternative launches for these missions, especially among the first Ariane 6 operational flights.
Responding to EUROPE, ESA’s Director General did not rule out the use of commercial micro-launchers to put small payloads into orbit, nor the use of non-European launchers.
In contrast, the International Space Station is continuing its mission normally, while Roscomos has speculated that it may have fallen out of control due to international sanctions against Russia. The activities of German astronaut Matthias Maurer are proceeding “normally”, Mr Aschbacher assured. He intends to convene an extraordinary ESA Council meeting in the coming weeks to submit specific proposals for decision by the Member States. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)