Parachute problems could delay Europe’s ExoMars rover launch to 2022: Report

Launching the ExoMars rover to the Red Planet this year may be delayed due to critical issues found during testing of the landing parachutes. Heads of two main partners of this mission: the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, are due to meet on March 12 to discuss mission progress.

If they miss the launch scheduled for July they might have to wait until late 2022 for another opportunity as missions to Mars only happen only when Earth is close enough to send spacecraft there without using undue fuel to complete the journey. These alignments happen only every 26 months, with the launch windows lasting only a few weeks.

Even if ESA’s ExoMars mission doesn’t make the journey in 2020, other agencies are lining up to go to Mars this year. NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and missions from Japan and China are all expected to lift off between July and August.