Russia’s exit from European Space Agency Mars mission gives NASA an opportunity

The European Space Agency (ESA) recently suspended work with Russia on its upcoming ExoMars mission, according to Space News. Not only has politics provided yet another delay for the mission to put a European rover on Mars but the decision is another step in the destruction of Russia’s space program in the wake of that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s space chief Dmitry Rogozin tried to put a brave face on the matter noting, “Yes, we’ll lose several years, but we’ll copy our landing module, provide it with an Angara launch vehicle, and we will carry out this research expedition from the new launch site of the Vostochny Cosmodrome independently.”

It should be noted that the Angara rocket has been in development since the early 1990s and has been plagued by schedule slippages and funding shortfalls. The Angara’s most recent test ended in failure from a glitch in the rocket’s Persei upper stage. The Vostochny Cosmodrome is located in the Russian far east and is meant to eventually replace the current cosmodrome in Baikonur that Russia leases from the government of Kazakhstan.

ExoMars has had a history of disruption due to political decisions by partners. The project started with NASA as the primary partner with the ESA. However, as part of his fiscal year 2013 budget request, then-President Barack Obama terminated the partnership. Obama, who had previously ended the George W. Bush administration’s Constellation project to send astronauts to the moon and then Mars, claimed that he wanted to focus on Mars in a 2010 speech at the Kennedy Space Center. His decision to pull out of the ExoMars project was seen as a slap in the face to America’s European allies. The decision forced the ESA to seek Russian assistance to complete the project. Ironically, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has left the ExoMars mission high and dry for a second time.

Despite the sudden change in partners, the first phase of the ExoMars project was launched in March 2016. It consisted of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), designed to detect sources of methane in the Martian atmosphere, and the Schiaparelli lander, meant to test Mars landing technology. The TGO went into Mars orbit successfully. However, the Schiaparelli, which contained a number of instruments, crashed on the Martian surface. 

The ESA is now in a quandary concerning the next phase of the ExoMars mission. The Rosalind Franklin rover was supposed to be launched in September 2022 and land on Mars in June 2023. Since Russia was supposed to provide a Proton launch vehicle and a lander called Kazachok to deliver the rover to the Martian surface, the 2022 launch window is now out of the question. 2024 looks iffy as well.

NASA has an excellent opportunity to step up, offer its services to complete the ExoMars mission, and rectify the mistake that Obama made. While the ESA may want to use the upcoming Ariane 6 rocket, NASA has access to several launch vehicles now via commercial partners like SpaceX’s family of Falcon rockets.

The Kazachok lander is already in Europe but since it is based on the failed Schiaparelli lander, the ESA might want to replace it as well. NASA has been landing probes on Mars successfully for decades. Something could be worked out, if not in time for the 2024 launch window, certainly for the 2026 one.

Both ESA and NASA would benefit from such an arrangement. The ESA will have acquired a more capable partner that is more likely to get the Rosalind Franklin rover to the Martian surface intact. NASA will buttress its credibility as a good space partner, something of importance for attracting more European countries to the Artemis Accords.

Russia, of course, will be the big loser. Its ill-considered invasion of Ukraine has already made that country an international pariah. The impact on the Russian space program is beyond evaluation. Already, the One Web satellite constellation, kicked off of a Russian launcher and has found a new provider in SpaceX.

Russian participation in the International Space Station (ISS) seems to be enduring, at least for the time being. Indeed, the latest crew of Russian cosmonauts recently arrived at the ISS wearing yellow and blue flight suits — the colors of the Ukrainian flag. They are also the colors of the alma mater of the three cosmonauts, Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Which was the inspiration for the flight suits is something for the reader to decide.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of space exploration studies “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.