The war mission between Russia and Ukraine and the ExoMars 2022 mission to Mars has been suspended. European Space Agency: “We condemn the aggression”

The Ukrainian invasion of Russia has already led to a number of consequences in the space sector, but it seems that scientific research at least temporarily got out of it. Instead it was suspended ExoMars 2022The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia (Roscosmos) mission to Mars. Unanimous decision at the ESA Council meeting in Paris. “As an intergovernmental organization charged with developing and implementing space programs in full compliance with European values, We strongly condemn the human victims and the tragic consequences of the aggression against Ukraine”, writes ESA. “Recognizing the impact on the scientific exploration of space, the European Space Agency is fully in line – as it declares – with the sanctions imposed by member states on Russia.”

Shared mission withRussian space agency Roscosmos He was destined to search for traces of life on the red planet Mars. At this point, the mission’s departure can be postponed for another two years because that is the time period needed for Mars to once again find itself in a favorable position with respect to Earth. However, the dependence on the Russian missile launcher and landing craft, also Russian, leaves no alternative. Only last January, new tests on the European rover (illustration in the photo) were completed in view of the September launch. All major rover tests Rosalind Franklin At the Altec operations center in Turin, it has been successfully completed and the transfer is planned for the end of April to Baikonur, in Kazakhstan, for launch. So the next date will be in 2026 according to the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Joseph Aschbacher.

Russian space company Roscosmos She will be able to carry out a trip to Mars on her own In light of the decision of the European Space Agency (ESA) to stop cooperating on the ExoMars mission,” according to Interfax, director of Roscosmos. Dmitriy Rogozin.
“Yes, we will lose several years, but we will copy our landing module, equip it with the Angara launch vehicle and independently conduct this research expedition from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome launch site,” Rogozin wrote in Telegram.

Meanwhile, the work program of International Space Station (Case) continues normally. The European Space Agency noted that “the main objective is to continue to ensure the safety of operations aboard the International Space Station, including operations aimed at the safety of the crew.” At the end of the meeting, “on the basis of a preliminary analysis of the technical and programmatic implications of all other activities affected by the war in Ukraine,” the Director-General intends to convene an extraordinary session of the Board in the coming weeks to make specific proposals.

There are also four European Space Agency space missions, whose launches were suspended after the decision of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. to withdraw its personnel from the European launch base at Kourou (French Guiana). It is located around Galileo M10, Galileo M11, Euclid and EarthCare missions. So the ESA Director General has begun an assessment of possible alternatives, including a review of the first scheduled flights with the new large European Ariane 6 launcher, and also intends to make a list of launch needs for ESA missions, including those that are planned to depart with Soyuz from Kourou. .