European Space
Agency Announcement - 12th December 2005
European ministers approve the Aurora Exploration Programme and give
green light for the ExoMars mission
The ministers from the 17 ESA Member States, gathered on 5 and 6 December
in Berlin for an ESA Council Meeting, have decided to go ahead with
the core programme of the European Space Exploration programme Aurora
and its first robotic exploration mission to Mars, called ExoMars.
Aurora, which is an optional programme of the Agency, i.e. Member States
are free to decide whether they want to participate in the programme
and up to which amount, received a large interest with the ministers
and representatives from 14 countries agreeing in Berlin to subscribe
to the programme up to a rate which exceeded the expectations.
ExoMars is the first robotic mission to be developed within the Aurora
programme framework. Scheduled to be launched from Kourou to Mars in
2011, the ExoMars mission will deploy a highly mobile rover with an
exobiology instrument suite and a drill that will reach soil samples
up to 2 meters under the Mars surface in search of traces of extinct
or still existing life.
The ExoMars mission was conceived as part of the Aurora Preparatory
Programme activities, that were started in 2002 with the support of
twelve participating states: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
and Canada.
In Berlin, 14 countries agreed to subscribe to the ExoMars mission:
the twelve countries from the preparatory phase were joined by Denmark
and Norway. Further contributions are still expected in the following
months. As far as the financial shares in the programme are concerned,
Italy has confirmed its leading role, followed by the United Kingdom,
France and Germany. This will also be reflected in the selection of
the industrial consortium that ESA will task to build the first European
rover for the exploration of Mars, along with a carrier and a descent
module.
On account of the large subscription, optional mission configurations
will now be further studied and submitted in due time to the participating
states for their consideration. The scientific payload carried to Mars
with the ExoMars spacecraft will also be finalised in the months to
come, with the aim of maximising the mission scientific return. Subject
to the availability of national funding for their research, scientists
from all states participating in the Aurora programme are represented
among the initial selection of instruments, together with some scientists
funded by the USA.
Together with the ExoMars mission, the other element of the Aurora
Programme, the so-called Core Activities, were also approved in Berlin.
The subscription level obtained will allow to prepare further exploration
missions beyond ExoMars (such as the Mars Sample Return mission), continue
the development of exploration-related technologies and capabilities
and at the same time develop a roadmap and perform awareness-raising
activities in support of the European involvement in global exploration
activities.
The decisions taken in Berlin by the ESA Member States allow Europe
to continue with the successful exploration of Mars already started
with Mars Express and play a significant role in future exploration
activities in cooperation with other international partners.
For further information:
Piero Messina
European Space Exploration Programme Aurora
Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration
ESA Paris
Tel.: +33 6 87715126
Piero.Messina@esa.int
ENDS
