European Space Agency to Cancel Joint Russian Mission to Mars

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A planned joint venture between the European Space Agency and Russia is set to be cancelled.

The two agencies were set to combine for a mission to Mars later this year.

The ESA held a meeting of its 22 member states to discuss the effects of sanctions against Russia. Following the meeting the agency says it is "very unlikely" that the mission will now go ahead.

"The sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely," said the ESA in a statement.

The mission was originally meant to go ahead in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The mission, which would send a rover to Mars, was then scheduled to launch from a site in Kazakhstan this September. The mission's objective is to determine whether life is possible or was ever feasible on the red planet.

A previous effort in 2016 ended when the rover crash-landed on Mars.

NASA has announced that it continues to work with its Russian partners on the International Space Station.

"Obviously, we understand the global situation, where it is, but as a joint team, these teams are operating together," a NASA spokesperson said. "We’ve operated in these kind of situations before and both sides always operated very professionally."

Four Americans and two Russians are currently aboard the station, along with a German.
 

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