The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that it is definitively ending its cooperation with Russia on the ExoMars mission, which it had suspended for several months after the invasion of Ukraine, which provoked the wrath of the Russian space agency.
On Tuesday night, ESA director Josef Aschbacher announced in a short tweet that his council had ordered him to “officially end” cooperation with Roscosmos on ExoMars. “The circumstances that led to the suspension of this cooperation, the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions, continue to prevail,” he said. Contacted by AFP, the ESA had no further comment on this announcement.
Russia speaks of “sabotage”
On March 17, the space agency, which groups 22 European states, announced the suspension of the mission that foresees the launch in autumn 2022 of an ESA rover bound for the planet Mars, using a Russian launcher and lander. .
Denouncing “sabotage”, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin called on the Russian crew of the International Space Station (ISS) to “stop working” with ESA’s robotic arm dedicated to the newly installed Russian segment of the orbital station.
“Josef Aschbacher (…) is he willing to answer for the sabotage of a joint mission to Mars?” The head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, reacted on Telegram. “In turn, I am ordering our crew on the ISS to stop working with the European ERA manipulator,” he said.
“Intense discussions” with NASA
Launched into orbit in July 2021 after many delays, the ERA (European Robotic Arm) telescopic robotic arm was installed a few months ago outside the Russian module of the ISS. 11 meters long, it allows maintenance or equipment tasks to be carried out, mainly on the Russian segment, and can be controlled from inside or outside the station.
ESA’s director recently reported “intense discussions” with NASA to conclude a “good partnership” with her to save the ExoMars mission. This must drill deep into the soil of the red planet, looking for traces of extraterrestrial life.
Source: BFM TV
