Roskosmos announced an agreement with ESA on the return of equipment for the ExoMars mission
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State Corporation Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) have developed a plan for the mutual return of the equipment of the ExoMars mission, which was supposed to take place in 2022. About this informs press service of Roskosmos.
According to the state corporation, work is underway in Italy to prepare for the return of the Russian material part – the landing module with a landing platform and scientific instruments. Work with the participation of Russian specialists is underway at the Thales Alenia Space Italy enterprise in Turin.
Roskosmos recalled that the launch to Mars of the ExoMars automatic interplanetary station, consisting of a European flight module, a Russian landing module with a landing platform and a European rover, was scheduled for September 2022. In March last year, ESA suspended cooperation with Roscosmos on this mission, and in July 2022 announced the termination of cooperation on the project and offered to arrange a mutual return of equipment. Roscosmos proposed to postpone the mission to 2024 or 2026, but the ESA rejected this proposal, the state corporation added.
“The State Corporation and the Russian Academy of Sciences are working on the possibility of exploring Mars, taking into account the groundwork created as part of the ExoMars project, including the possibility of attracting foreign partners,” the report says.
Earlier, Roskosmos reported that it was impossible to return the Russian landing Martian module Kazachok from Italy due to the termination of air traffic between the EU and Russia. The platform was supposed to deliver the European rover Rosalind Franklin to Mars. By the time the mission is launched, the ground storage resource of the Kazachka will run out, so a new platform will have to be built, the press service also reported. The former head of the state corporation, Dmitry Rogozin, said that Russia would carry out the mission itself, although preparations for it would drag on for several years.
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