ESA plans for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to land on Mars in 2030, outside the planet's global dust storm season.
The European Space Agency's ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is planned for launch in 2028 to search for evidence of past life on Mars.
The Rosalind Franklin rover mission's NASA support is jeopardized by the proposed budget cuts.
NASA’s contributions replace elements of the Rosalind Franklin mission originally provided by Roscosmos, which had developed the landing platform and planned to launch the spacecraft on a Proton in September 2022.
The Thales Alenia Space–led team will develop a new landing platform for the Rosalind Franklin rover while NASA will provide engines and radioisotope heating units not readily available in Europe.
NASA’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal requested $49,200,000 for work on the Rosalind Franklin mission.
NASA’s confirmed contributions to the Rosalind Franklin mission include throttable braking engines for a new descent stage being developed by ESA and radioisotope heating units that use heat from the decay of plutonium-238 to keep the spacecraft warm.
The agreement formalizes cooperation between NASA and ESA on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission scheduled to launch in 2028.
NASA projected spending $339,000,000 on the Rosalind Franklin mission through fiscal year 2029, a period that goes through the projected late 2028 launch.
ESA is developing its own landing system for the Rosalind Franklin rover and awarded a contract worth 522,000,000 EUR to Thales Alenia Space on 2024-04-09 to restart work on the mission.
NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Nicky Fox and ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander signed the agreement on the Rosalind Franklin mission at ESA headquarters in Paris, France on 2024-05-16.
NASA will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy to provide lightweight radioisotope heater units for the Rosalind Franklin rover.
NASA and the European Space Agency signed an agreement to expand NASA’s work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover.
The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover is an ESA-led mission scheduled to launch in 2028.
The European Space Agency awarded a contract worth 522,000,000 EUR to a consortium led by Thales Alenia Space to restart work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission.
Airbus Defence and Space, which built the Rosalind Franklin rover, will provide mechanical, thermal, and propulsion systems for the new landing platform.
The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission will deliver the Rosalind Franklin rover to the surface of Mars equipped with a drill that will reach up to two meters into the surface to collect material for life-detection analysis.
NASA is providing 40 RHUs as part of its contribution to the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin Mars rover, slated for launch in 2028.
NASA’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal supports NASA providing thrusters, radioactive heating units, and launch services for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover on the ExoMars mission.
The European Space Agency sought NASA support to fly the Rosalind Franklin rover after severing ties with Russia, including thrusters for the lander, radioisotope heating units for the rover, and launch services.