ESA suspends Mars mission over Russian invasion of Ukraine

Paris, Mar 17 (EFE).- The European Space Agency said Thursday it was suspending its ExoMars programme, a joint mission with Russia to search whether life exists on Mars, over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“As an intergovernmental organization mandated to develop and implement space programmes in full respect with European values, we deeply deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the aggression towards Ukraine,” ESA said in a statement.

“While recognising the impact on scientific exploration of space, ESA is fully aligned with the sanctions imposed on Russia by its member states,” it added.

ESA said it would evaluate options to continue the mission which was set to send robotic spacecrafts to Mars this year.

The European agency and Russa’s Roscosmos have been working on the programme for the last decade.

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