MOSCOW
The Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced on Thursday that its joint mission with the European Space Agency (ESA), ExoMars-2020, has been rescheduled for 2022 because of the coronavirus.
“We have made a difficult but well-weighed decision to postpone the launch to 2022,” it said in a statement.
Experts, it added, had decided that tests necessary to make all components of the spacecraft fit for the Mars adventure “need more time to complete.”
“In addition, the parties had to recognize that the final phase of ExoMars activities are compromised by the general aggravation of the epidemiological situation in European countries.”
