First solar array panel for ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter (ERO).
The seven-tonne, seven-metre tall spacecraft would be equipped with 144 m² of solar arrays and nearly 40 000 individual solar cells spanning nearly 40 metres – the largest ever built for interplanetary flight.
ERO is one of three missions launched from Earth that would be part of the intricate Mars Sample Return campaign to bring martian rock, soil and atmospheric samples back to Earth.
In addition to the rendezvous and return mission, ERO would provide critical Mars-Earth communications coverage for the NASA’s Perseverance rover and the Sample Retrieval Lander to deliver the martian samples.
Just as the Apollo Moon samples have fuelled research for decades, the scientific community would have pristine samples from Mars to study for years to come.
ERO’s round-trip to the Red Planet, as well as its rendezvous with an object launched from the martian surface, would pave the way for crewed missions to Mars.