ESA scratches ExoMars 2022 launch for this year after suspending cooperation with Russia Roscosmos

What is the News?

The European Space Agency’s(ESA’s) ExoMars 2022 mission will not be launched in September 2022 as planned after the agency suspended all cooperation with Russia’s space program Roscosmos.

What is the purpose of the ExoMars Mission?

Aim: To check if there has ever been life on Mars and also understand the history of water on the planet.

Stages: It is a two-stage mission:

– First Stage: Its first mission launched atop a Proton-M rocket in 2016 and consisted of the European Trace Gas Orbiter and test lander called Schiaparelli. The orbiter was successful, while the test lander failed during its descent to Mars.

– Second Stage: It comprises a rover and surface platform: This second part of the mission was originally planned for July 2020. But it was postponed until this September due to technical issues.

About the collaboration in ExoMars Mission?

ESA and NASA were the original ExoMars collaborators, but NASA dropped out in 2012 due to budgeting problems. Russia took NASA’s place in the project in 2013.

Now, the ESA has suspended all cooperation with Russia’s space program Roscosmos. This means that ESA now needs to reconfigure the ExoMars mission, as it uses a number of Russian-made components.

Source: The post is based on an article “ESA scratches ExoMars 2022 launch for this year after suspending cooperation with Russia Roscosmos” published in the Indian Express on 22nd March 2022