The ExoMars programme comprises two missions: the first – the Trace Gas Orbiter – launched in 2016 while the second, comprising a rover and surface platform, is planned for 2022. Together they will address the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars.
This is a joint program between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Roscosmos Space Corporation from Russia. The primary goal of the mission is to determine if there has ever been life on Mars, and to better understand the history of water on the planet. The ExoMars rover, named Rosalind Franklin, includes a drill to access the sub-surface of Mars as well as a miniature life-search laboratory kept within an ultra-clean zone.
