ESA expects strong NASA support after Mars mission suspended due to Ukraine war

[June 22, 2022]  BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Wednesday that it expects strong support from its U.S. counterpart NASA after the European agency's plans to cooperate with Russia on a Mars research mission were suspended due to the Ukraine war.  

ESA's European Astronaut Centre (EAC) logo is pictured in Cologne, Germany, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen/File Photo

ESA said in March that it was suspending cooperation with Russia's Roscosmos space agency on their joint ExoMars rover mission to search for signs of life on the surface of Mars in the wake of the Ukraine war and sanctions imposed on Moscow.

ESA said in June it had held talks with Roscosmos but gave no indication of the outcome.

"Administrator Bill Nelson has given us a clear message: NASA wants to help Europe in this situation," ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher told journalists at a news conference at the ILA Berlin Air Show trade fair.

He added that ESA talks with NASA over the possible support would be finalised in the coming weeks.

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska, Editing by Miranda Murray, Editing by William Maclean)

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