The agency expressed regret over the "tragic consequences" of the fighting in Ukraine and stressed that it makes decisions based on both the interests of people working on scientific programs and European values.
PARIS, February 28. /tass/. The European Space Agency (ESA) considers the possibility of launching a Russian-European Mars exploration mission "ExoMars" unlikely due to anti-Russian sanctions imposed in connection with the situation in Ukraine. This is stated in the agency's statement published on Monday.
"As for the continuation of the ExoMars program, sanctions and the broader context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely. The ESA Director General will analyze all options and prepare an official decision on the further actions of the ESA member States," the statement reads.
The Agency regrets the "tragic consequences" of the fighting in Ukraine and stresses that it makes decisions based both on the interests of people working on scientific programs and on European values, "which have always determined the approach to international cooperation" of the organization. In this regard, ESA intends to "fully implement the sanctions imposed against Russia by the participating countries."
"We are assessing the implications for each of our current programs implemented in cooperation with the Russian Roscosmos and coordinating our decisions with those of our member states in close coordination with industrial and international partners (in particular with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the International Space Station)," the ESA statement said.
About the Mars Exploration Program
ExoMars is a joint program of the European Space Agency and Roscosmos for the exploration of Mars, consisting of two projects - the ExoMars-TGO probe and the Rosalind Franklin rover. The first spacecraft arrived safely into Mars orbit in October 2016, and over the following years it made many interesting discoveries related to the properties of the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
The launch of the second half of the Exomars mission was originally scheduled for 2018, but later the launch of the European rover and the Russian landing platform Kazachok was postponed to 2020, and then to 2022. ESA predicted a launch window between September 20 and October 1. They were planned to be sent into space using a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M upper stage from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The project aims to explore the surface of Mars and search for potential traces of extraterrestrial life.
