He had ignited the dream of being able to find out if there was, or still is, life on Mars, albeit in very elementary forms, but we will have to wait a little longer:
the launch scheduled for September of the ExoMars mission
, conducted so far, has been suspended.
jointly by the space agencies of Europe (ESA) and Russia (Roscomos).
This was decided by the ESA Council at the end of the two-day meeting in Paris.
“It was a sad decision to suspend the launch of ExoMars due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” ESA director general Josef Aschbacher told ANSA.
“The sanctions imposed on Russia by Europe - he added - do not allow the launch campaign to continue.
We cannot imagine a launch with Russia ”.
The suspension of collaboration between Europe and Russia also affects the four missions
(Galileo M10, Galileo M11, Euclid and EarthCare).
ready to be launched by Russian Soyuz rockets, both from the European base of Kourou (French Guiana) and from Russian territory.
The opportunity offered by the new European launchers Ariane 6 and Vega C opens up on the horizon, even if it will be about solving the problem of Ukrainian-made components.
The collaboration instead proceeds regularly on board the International Space Station
(ISS): "the main objective - said ESA - is to continue to guarantee the safety of operations aboard the ISS, including those aimed at the safety of the crew".
At the moment the next flights are confirmed both from the European side (that of Samantha Cristoforetti in April aboard the American shuttle Crew Dragon), and from the Russian side (that of three cosmonauts who tomorrow are preparing to leave with the Soyuz to reach the ISS.
After having suspended a collaboration with Russia that began in the 1990s, a phase of reorganization of space Europe is now beginning.
It is about setting a new date for the launch of ExoMars and at the moment the most likely is 2026, Aschbacher said.
"Now it is a question of working with the industry to study in detail which components of Russian vehicles can be replaced by the European industry, or by the US one," said Aschbacher.
"This is what we are preparing to do in the coming months and it will be a complex job because space technology is very complex."
A work that will proceed gradually and the first stage is set for June, when "a new meeting is expected to examine possible options".
Overall,
A long wait that, according to the ESA director of human and robotic exploration, David Parker, will not be able to undermine the European scientific and technological primacy linked to this mission: "we will launch later", he said, "but we will still be the first to drill the soil of Mars to a depth of two meters in search of traces of life ".