Europe's first planetary rover will have to wait a little longer to begin its journey to Mars, CNN reports.
The European Space Agency and Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, have postponed its launch, partially due to concerns over the coronavirus, they said in a statement on Thursday.
The rover, known as both ExoMars and Rosalind Franklin in honor of the English chemist and DNA pioneer, was scheduled to launch in July 2020. Now, the joint-agency project teams are eyeing a new launch window between August and October 2022.
Launch windows are delicate and timely for missions heading to Mars from Earth. "Celestial mechanics define that only relatively short launch windows (10 days each) every two years exist in which Mars can be reached from Earth," according to the statement.
The agencies cited concerns over the coronavirus and spacecraft component readiness as reasons for the delay. Further tests will ensure that the spacecraft's components are completed and ready.
"We have made a difficult but well-weighed decision to postpone the launch to 2022," said Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin in a statement. "It is driven primarily by the need to maximize the robustness of all ExoMars systems as well as force majeure circumstances related to exacerbation of the epidemiological situation in Europe which left our experts practically no possibility to proceed with travels to partner industries."
