The European Space Agency has decided to suspend cooperation with Russia. The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine delayed the incoming Rosalind Franklin mission to Mars. In a statement published on Monday (February 28), the agency deplored the victims and the tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine. She stressed that the sanctions created a situation in which the launch of the ExoMars program in 2022 is unlikely. The ExoMars rover is a joint project of the European and Russian space agencies. It was supposed to go into space in September this year from southern Kazakhstan. It was expected to land on Mars by the middle of next year. Russia was to design a lander that would be used to deploy a rover on the Red Planet. Director General of the State Corporation for Space Activities Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, informed on social media that “The European Space Agency, in spite of the Russian grandmother, has decided to frostbite its ears.” There are currently seven astronauts on the International Space Station – four from the USA, two from Russia and one from Germany. The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organization managed by 22 member states.
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