ESA cuts Mars mission ties with Russia entirely, angering Moscow

The European Space Agency has officially ended cooperation with Russia on a mission to bring a rover to Mars, after which Russia’s space chief reacted furiously by banning cosmonauts on the ISS from using a European-made robotic arm.

ESA had previously suspended ties to the joint ExoMars mission, which had planned to launch the European rover Rosalind Franklin with Russian rockets to drill for life signs on the red planet, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher tweeted on Tuesday that the agency would “officially end” ties with Russia on ExoMars and its landing platform as the war and resulting sanctions “remain prevail.”

The hot-headed head of the Russian space agency Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, reacted angrily.

“Has the head of the European Space Agency given thought to the work of thousands of scientists and engineers in Europe and Russia that this decision has ended? Is he ready to stand trial for sabotaging a joint Mars mission?” Rogozin said on Telegram.

“I, in turn, order our crew on the ISS to stop working with the European manipulator ERA,” he added.

Installed just a few months ago, the European Robotic Arm (ERA) is one of three such robots on the International Space Station, but it is the only one capable of reaching the Russian segment.

The 11-meter-long, compass-looking robot helps move payloads inside and outside the ISS, and can also transport astronauts “like a lifting crane,” according to the ESA website.

The ExoMars launch was previously put on hold in 2020 because of the pandemic, then plans for a September launch this year were canceled because of the war in March.

Aschbacher said last month he was in “intensive discussions” with the US space agency NASA to bring the rover to Mars, adding he was “very confident that we can find a good partnership.”