ExoMars
Artist's illustration of ExoMars's Trace Gas Orbiter (left), Schiaparelli lander (middle), and rover (right) | |
| Mission type | Mars reconnaissance |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA, Roscosmos (until 2022) |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | Trace Gas Orbiter: 10 years and 3 days (in progress) Schiaparelli: 7 months |
ExoMars ESA mission insignia | |
ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) composed of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), the Schiaparelli lander, and a future rover Rosalind Franklin. The goals of ExoMars are to search for signs of past life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate atmospheric trace gases and their sources and, by doing so, demonstrate the technologies for a future Mars sample-return mission.
The first part of the programme is a mission launched in 2016. The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and a test stationary lander called Schiaparelli (designed to test new key technologies to safely deliver the subsequent rover mission) were launched on 14 March 2016. TGO entered Mars orbit on 19 October 2016, and proceeded to map the sources of methane (CH4) and other trace gases present in the Martian atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity. The TGO features four instruments and acts as a communications relay satellite. The Schiaparelli experimental lander separated from TGO on 16 October and was maneuvered to land in Meridiani Planum, but it crashed on the surface of Mars.
The second part of the programme was planned to launch in early 2020s, when a Russian lander named Kazachok was due to deliver the ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover to the Martian surface. The rover would also include some Roscosmos built instruments. On 17 March 2022, ESA suspended the mission due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In April 2024, the mission received new funding to restart construction and delivery of the Rosalind Franklin rover using a new European landing platform and NASA has agreed to provide the launch, currently scheduled for late 2028. The second mission operations and communications will be led by ALTEC's Rover Control Centre in Italy.