Europe to Press Ahead with Mars Rover

Europe has approved €1.4bn euros budget to put a UK-assembled robotic rover on the surface of Mars.

20:45 16 December 2016

Europe’s space mission that will see a UK-assembled rover on the surface of Mars has been delayed and is costing far more than originally envisaged. Amidst fears that the European Space Agency member states is abandoning it, research ministers have agreed to raise the needed funds to take the project through to completion. 

 

The Ministerial Council has met to set the policies, programmes and funding for ESA over the next three to five years. At the end of the deliberations, the 22 governments have agree to fund the €10.3bn.

 

The project will open new opportunities for European astronauts to go to space and it was announced that Italian Luca Parmitano has been proposed to take up a tour in 2019. 

 

"This is a big amount of money that really allows us to go forward," said Prof Jan Woerner, the director general of Esa.

 

"We need inspiration for the future. Inspiration is a driver, and from inspiration and fascination come motivation. And for me, it's very clear we are responsible for the motivation of the next generation to create the future."

 

"Completion of ExoMars was probably the most challenging of our discussions because of the size of the additional resources that have been put on the table," said Prof Roberto Battiston, the president of the Italian space agency (ASI).

 

"But this was justified by the detailed analysis presented by Esa. We are covering about 45% of the total cost of the mission, which makes us the country that is particularly sensitive to the cost of it."