The European Space Agency has reported that it is “highly unlikely” that the ExoMars mission will launch this September 2022 due to sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Thus, in a brief statement to the media, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher practically ruled out the launch planned for the end of September in the launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which raised doubts about when it will take place. , therefore, the new launch of ExoMars.
“Regarding the continuation of the ExoMars program, the sanctions and broader context make a 2022 launch highly unlikely,” the agency said. “ESA’s Director General will analyze all options and prepare a formal decision on the way forward for ESA Member States.”
“We deplore the tragic events taking place in Ukraine, a crisis that has dramatically escalated into war in recent days,” Aschbacher tweeted. “Many difficult decisions are being made at ESA in consideration of the sanctions implemented by the governments of our member states.”
ExoMars Mission
The ExoMars mission (Exobiology on Mars) is, precisely, a joint initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian agency Roscosmos with a double objective: to search for the vestiges of life on Mars and to better prepare future manned missions .
These types of missions depend on collaboration and if relations between countries deteriorate, missions can also be compromised.
ExoMars, for its part, also has a long chain of delays. Originally scheduled to launch in 2018 (with orbital insertion in 2016), the schedule was pushed back due to technical issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic subsequently forced another delay. The Russian-initiated war against Ukraine represents a new obstacle that, according to experts, it could push its launch until at least 2024. International tensions do not help when it comes to global cooperation projects but, in this case, because the launch date to reach Mars depends on the position of Earth and Mars, we won’t be at the closest point between them for another two years. Once every two years, for about 10 days, the positions of both planets would allow the spacecraft to reach Mars from Earth in the shortest possible time, around nine months.
This is bad news for space exploration, because in January ESA reported that all of its instruments were ready for flight, with only a few minor adjustments left to polish.
Reference: European Space Agency
