ESA suspends cooperation with Russia for all Moon missions citing Ukraine invasion

The European Space Agency (ESA), following a council meeting on April 13, announced that it is 'redirecting' its space programmes due to the ongoing geopolitical crisis. In an official release, the agency said that its Director-General Josef Aschbacher has initiated a comprehensive review of all European activities initiated in cooperation with Russia and Ukraine. "The objective is to determine the possible consequences of this new geopolitical context for ESA programmes and activities and to create a more resilient and robust space infrastructure for Europe", the release stated. 

Europe suspends cooperation with Russia in lunar missions

In the aftermath of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine, ESA announced that it is ending its cooperation with Moscow over the Moon missions- Luna 25, 26 and 27. The first lunar mission, a joint mission of Russia and Europe, was scheduled for launch in July 2022 using a Russian rocket. Since this is no longer viable, ESA says that it has secured a second launch opportunity onboard a NASA-led Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission. 

This comes after the agency recently suspended the Mars mission with Russia. Named ‘ExoMars’, it was scheduled for launch later this year carrying a rover named ‘Rosalind Franklin’ to the red planet. “As with ExoMars, the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the resulting sanctions put in place represent a fundamental change of circumstances and make it impossible for ESA to implement the planned lunar cooperation”, ESA said. It further revealed that scientists are now finding a way forward for Europe’s Mars mission. 

The lunar missions, on the other hand, have also suffered major setbacks as they were supposed to kick start this year. According to the previous schedule, the Luna 26 was to be launched two years after the first one, followed by Luna 27 a year after. Under these programmes, Europe had planned to send two landers and one orbiter to the Moon. With Luna 25, ESA was eyeing crucial data of the lunar surface which would have been used for landing in following missions.

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