Delay for ExoMars as second mission is postponed to 2022

ESA and Roscosmos have delayed the second ExoMars mission to the Red Planet, citing a lack of time to complete the necessary tests on the spacecraft components.

In the frame of a dedicated meeting, ESA and Roscosmos heads Jan Wörner and Dmitry Rogozin agreed that further tests to the spacecraft with the final hardware and software are needed. In addition, the parties had to recognise that the final phase of ExoMars activities are compromised by the general aggravation of the epidemiological situation in European countries.

“We have made a difficult but well-weighed decision to postpone the launch to 2022,” said Mr Rogozin. “It is driven primarily by the need to maximise the robustness of all ExoMars systems as well as force majeure circumstances related to exacerbation of the epidemiological situation in Europe which left our experts practically no possibility to proceed with travels to partner industries.

“I am confident that the steps that we and our European colleagues are taking to ensure mission success will be justified and will unquestionably bring solely positive results for the mission implementation.”