The European Space Agency (ESA) announced Thursday in a press release that it was suspending its collaboration with Russia on the ExoMars mission, intended to investigate life on Mars.
ESA said it would no longer work with Russian space agency Roscosmos on the ExoMars mission due to the crisis in Ukraine.
According to the press release, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher has been authorized by ESA member states to conduct an accelerated industrial study to find alternative options for the implementation of the ExoMars mission.
The ExoMars program includes two missions: the first, Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), was launched in 2016. The second, consisting of a rover and a surface platform, was initially planned for 2018 but was postponed to 2022 .