Europes British-built Mars rover unlikely to launch this year due to Russia invasion

Europe’s Mars rover is “unlikely” to launch this year due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

© Provided by Evening Standard The prototype rover Amalia is tested in planet Mars simulated conditions inside the Altec’s laboratory in Turin, Italy (AP)

British-built Rosalind Franklin was due to launch in September and land eight months later using Russian hardware.

Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a statement from the European Space Agency (ESA) said the launch is now unlikely due to the sanctions placed on the country and the “wider context” of the invasion.

In a statement, the ESA said: “Regarding the ExoMars programme continuation, the sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely.

“ESA’s Director General will analyse all the options and prepare a formal decision on the way forward by ESA Member States.”

The rocket only has a small window of time to launch due to the alignment of the planets, as part of the joint juncture with the Russian space agency.

The Rosalind Franklin must launch in a 10-day window in late September and early October.

If the rocket misses the launch, it must wait 26 months before having another opportunity for lift off.

The ESA added: “We deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine.

“We are giving absolute priority to taking proper decisions, not only for the sake of our workforce involved in the programmes, but in full respect of our European values, which have always fundamentally shaped our approach to international cooperation.”

The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced it would suspend flights of its Soyuz rockets from the European Kourou spaceport in French Guiana due to the wave of sanctions against the state.

© Provided by Evening Standard The prototype rover Amalia is tested in planet Mars simulated conditions inside the Altec’s laboratory in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP)

The Rosalind Franklin is the second stage of a space programme, formerly known as ExoMars.

The first stage launched in 2016 and it is studying the planet’s atmosphere.

The UK has been the largest contributor to the ESA and has given £250million into providing equipment for the rover.

Boris Johnson also told MPs it would be hard to see the project going ahead due to the invasion.

We deplore the tragic events taking place in Ukraine, a crisis which escalated dramatically into war in recent days. Many difficult decisions are now being taken at ESA in consideration of the sanctions implemented by the governments of our Member States.https://t.co/nOg8orZr1n https://t.co/5Mr6WexY9I

— Josef Aschbacher (@AschbacherJosef) February 28, 2022

The director general of the ESA Josef Aschbacher also said the Ukraine crisis had changed the schedule of the rocket and faces difficult decisions over the launch.

The EU added 26 names to the list of sanctions on Monday, including Igor Sechin, the CEO of state oil company Rosneft, Nikolay Tokarev, CEO of Transneft, a state-controlled pipeline transport company, and Gennady Timchenko, the founder and main shareholder of the Volga Group.

The UK also revealed three more Russian banks will be sanctioned, including the country’s largest Sberbank.