Russia can implement its part of ExoMars: Roscosmos after ESA terminates Mars mission

The European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Josef Aschbacher has announced the official termination of the ExoMars mission which was being developed in collaboration with Russia and was suspended amid the Ukraine crisis. In a tweet posted late July 12, Aschbacher said that the decision comes after an ESA council meeting over the same.

"Today ESA Council addressed the ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform mission, acknowledging that the circumstances which led to the suspension of the cooperation with Roscosmos – the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions – continue to prevail", he wrote in his tweet.

"As a consequence, Council mandated me to officially terminate the currently suspended cooperation with Roscosmos on the ExoMars Rover and Surface Platform mission."

He further stated that new details on the war forward and the fate of the mission will be revealed at a media briefing on July 20.

Under the ExoMars mission, which was previously targeted for launch in September this year, ESA was sending the Rosalind Franklin rover along with a lander made by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. 

Russia responds to ESA's decision

Following Aschbacher's announcement, Roscosmos said that it has not received an official notification of the former's withdrawal from the mission. In an official statement, the agency, however, said that it is capable of implementing the Russian part of the mission on its own. "Russia can still implement its own part of the ExoMars project on a national level or with partners from friendly countries," Roscosmos told TASS news.

The corporation also revealed that it has not received an official notification about ESA's withdrawal from the project and can hence 'only react to their Twitter diplomacy at the moment', it further said. Besides, Roscosmos reportedly expressed regret that Europe shunned the quest to find life on Mars due to the 'ambitions of certain officials and countries'.

The latest developments follow Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin's statements in July wherein he said that Russia has begun negotiations on the resumption of the mission. Notably, ESA might also terminate the Luna 25, 26 and 27 missions to the Moon, which it has planned with Roscosmos and are currently suspended.