The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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The second part of the ExoMars programme is ongoing.
In Stevenage, UK, a rover is being built that will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to exobiology and geochemistry research. It will be the first mission to combine the capability to move across the surface and to study Mars at depth.
The primary goal of the ExoMars programme is to address the question of whether life has ever existed on the red planet.
The first part of the programme was launched in March 2016 with the Trace Gas Orbiter. The second part is planned for launch in 2020 and comprises the rover and surface science platform
ExoMars is a joint endeavour between ESA and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.
This video focusses on the rover and explains what it plans to achieve on Mars.