Rosalind Franklin, previously known as the ExoMars rover, is a planned European robotic Mars rover, part of the international astrobiology programme ExoMars led by the European Space Agency (ESA). The rover is named after Rosalind Franklin, a British chemist and DNA research pioneer. Rosalind Franklin will be the first Mars rover to drill into a depth of up to two metres below the planet's surface. The rover was designed to search for biomolecules or biosignatures from past life. Its core task is to determine whether life ever existed on Mars, or still does today. As of 2026, Rosalind Franklin is expected to launch in 2028 on a Falcon Heavy rocket. The rover, together with the Airbus-built landing platform EDLM,ExoMars/Rosalind Franklin Mission Update will travel to Mars inside the Descent Module, connected to the Carrier Module. The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), launched in 2016, will operate as the data-relay satellite of Rosalind Franklin.
History
Overview In mid-2010s, the mission was scheduled to launch in early 2020s in cooperation with the Russian Roscosmos. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused a delay of the programme, as the member states of ESA voted to terminate the cooperation. In 2024, the project received additional funding to restart and complete the mission with launch scheduled for 2028 using a NASA-procured US launch vehicle and a new European landing platform. The landing is expected in 2030.
Origins The rover was proposed in 2001 as part of ESA's Aurora Programme based on the astrobiology community's advice published in a 1999 document called the "Red Book". It was originally conceived as a rover with a science payload, launched in 2009 by a Soyuz-2-1b rocket from Kourou. The Ariane 5 and Proton rockets were also considered after the project was broadened in scope in mid-2000s.
In 2009, ESA reached an agreement with NASA to launch the mission in 2018 together with NASA's MAX-C rover using a US launch vehicle of the Atlas family. However, MAX-C was cancelled in April 2011 due to budget cuts in the US. At that time, the European rover was envisioned as weighing and carrying a science payload.
In 2012, ESA entered negotiations about a new agreement with Roscosmos under which the Russian agency would provide a Proton launch vehicle and develop the descent module and the landing platform for the rover. The agreement was formalised in March 2013. The rover's design reached its final configuration: an autonomous six-wheeled vehicle with mass approximately , about 60% more than NASA's 2004 Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, but about one third that of NASA's later rovers: Curiosity, launched in 2011, and Perseverance, launched in 2020. The mission completed its System Requirements Review (SRR) in July 2013
Construction The lead builder of the rover, the British division of Airbus Defence and Space, began procuring critical components in March 2014. In December 2014, ESA member states approved the funding for the rover, to be sent on the second ExoMars launch in 2018, but insufficient funds had already started to threaten a launch delay until 2020. The wheels and suspension system were paid for by the Canadian Space Agency and were manufactured by MDA Corporation in Canada. Each wheel is in diameter.ESA Prepares for ExoMars Rover 2020 Launch at Mars and on Earth. Emily Lakdawalla, The Planetary Society. 30 May 2019. Roscosmos was expected to provide radioisotope heater units (RHU) for the rover to keep its electronic components warm at night. The rover was assembled by Airbus DS in the UK during 2018 and 2019.
Testing On 27 March 2014, a "Mars Yard" was opened at Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK, to facilitate the development and testing of the rover's autonomous navigation system. The yard is and contains of sand and rocks designed to mimic the terrain of the Martian environment.
Like all other Martian rovers the ExoMars team also built a twin rover for Rosalind Franklin, known as the Ground Test Model (GTM), with the nickname Amalia. This test model borrows its name from Professor Amalia Ercoli Finzi, a renowned astrophysicist with broad experience in spaceflight dynamics. Amalia has demonstrated drilling soil samples down to 1.7 meters and operating all the instruments while sending scientific data to the Rover Operations Control Centre (ROCC), the operational hub that will orchestrate the roaming of the European-built rover on Mars. It was being used in a Mars terrain simulator at the ALTEC premises in Turin. In 2022, engineers were using the Amalia rover to recreate different scenarios and help them take decisions that will keep Rosalind safe in the challenging environment of Mars and to run risky operations, from driving around Martian slopes seeking the best path for science operations to drilling and analyzing rocks.
Landing site selection A primary goal when selecting the rover's landing site is to identify a particular geologic environment, or set of environments, that would support —now or in the past— microbial life. The scientists prefer a landing site with both morphologic and mineralogical evidence for past water. Furthermore, a site with spectra indicating multiple hydrated minerals such as clay minerals is preferred, but it will come down to a balance between engineering constraints and scientific goals. Engineering constraints call for a flat landing site in a latitude band straddling the equator that is only 30° latitude from top to bottom because the rover is solar-powered and will need best sunlight exposure. The landing module carrying the rover will have a landing ellipse that measures about 105 km by 15 km. Scientific requirements include landing in an area with 3.6 billion years old sedimentary rocks that are a record of the past wet habitable environment. The year before launch, the European Space Agency will make the final decision. By March 2014, the long list was: Aram Dorsum Coogoon Valles Hypanis Vallis Mawrth Vallis Oxia Planum Simud Valles Southern Isidis
After a review by an ESA-appointed panel, a short list of four sites (Mawrth Vallis, Oxia Planum, Hypanis Vallis, Aram Dorsum) was formally recommended in October 2014 for further detailed analysis. These landing sites exhibit evidence of a complex aqueous history in the past. On 21 October 2015, Oxia Planum was chosen as the preferred landing site for the rover, with Aram Dorsum and Mawrth Vallis as backup options. In March 2017 the Landing Site Selection Working Group narrowed the choice to Oxia Planum and Mawrth Vallis, and in November 2018, Oxia Planum was once again chosen, pending sign-off by the heads of the European and Russian space agencies.
Naming In July 2018, the European Space Agency launched a public outreach campaign to choose a name for the rover. On 7 February 2019, the ExoMars rover was named Rosalind Franklin in honour of scientist Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), who made key contributions to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite.
Launch delays By March 2013, the spacecraft was scheduled to launch in 2018 with a Mars landing in early 2019. Delays in European and Russian industrial activities and deliveries of scientific payloads forced the launch to be pushed back. In May 2016, ESA announced that the mission had been moved to the next available launch window of July 2020. ESA ministerial meetings in December 2016 reviewed mission issues including ExoMars funding and lessons learned from the ExoMars 2016 Schiaparelli mission, which had crashed after its atmospheric entry and parachute descent (the 2020 mission drawing on Schiaparelli heritage for elements of its entry, descent and landing systems). In March 2020, ESA delayed the launch to August–October 2022 due to parachute testing issues. This was later refined to a twelve-day launch window starting on 20 September until 1 October 2022, with a scheduled landing around 10 June 2023.
Landing site re-evaluation The delay of the rover mission to 2020 from 2018 meant that Oxia Planum was no longer the only favourable landing site due to changes in the possible landing ellipse. Both Mawrth Vallis and Aram Dorsum, surviving candidates from the previous selection, could be reconsidered. ESA convened further workshops to re-evaluate the three remaining options and in March 2017 selected two sites (Mawrth Vallis, Oxia Planum) to study in detail.
On 9 November 2018, ESA announced that Oxia Planum was favoured by the Landing Site Selection Working Group. The favored Oxia Planum landing ellipse is situated at 18.20°N, 335.45°E. In 2019, Oxia Planum was confirmed by ESA as the landing site for the planned 2020 mission. Later that year, a flyover video of the landing site was released, created using high-accuracy 3D models of the terrain obtained from HiRISE.
In August 2022, the Oxia Planum region was discovered to be rich in clays, which are formed in water-rich environments. In March 2025, scientists have published the most detailed geological map of Oxia Planum ever in the Journal of Maps. The map will be used by ESA to decide how the rover explores the area, interprets its surroundings, and collects scientific evidence.
Partnership with Russia cancelled The diplomatic crisis over the Russian invasion of Ukraine further delayed the launch, due to the plan to use Russian launch and landing hardware. On 17 March 2022, ESA announced that the launch of the rover has been suspended, with the earliest new date being sometime in late 2024.
Mission restart
In 2024, the mission received additional funding to restart the mission. The award went to Thales Alenia Space, with a launch scheduled for 2028. In May 2024, ESA signed an agreement with NASA to procure a US launch vehicle for the mission. In March 2025, ESA has selected SENER to develop several systems for the Descent Module (landing gear, mechanisms and adapter for separating the entry capsule, and UHF communications antennas) and for the rover (drill positioning and translation system, solar panel deployment mechanism, and X and UHF band antennas). Later in March 2025, Airbus was selected to build the landing platform replacing the previously planned Russian lander. Resumed preparations In March 2025, the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) was testing the aerodynamics of the Descent Module by shooting a tiny sensor-equipped model of the capsule from a gun at speeds ranged from 1,800 to 4,300 km/h. On 7 July 2025, ESA has retested the parachutes by dropping a dummy Descent Module from a stratospheric helium balloon launched from Esrange. This was needed for recertification of the system after the restart of the mission preparations. In early August 2025, ArianeGroup has receives a heat shield mock-up from Loiretech to be used for the initial qualification of the Descent Module heat shield.
In October 2025, the Polish company Astronika demonstrated the deployment of the landing platform's ramps and the Welsh Aberystwyth University delivered a test model of the ENFYS infrared spectrometer, replacing the cancelled Russian ISEM, for installation on the rover's Ground Test Model in Turin, Italy. In early December 2025, Loiretech delivered a full-scale mock-up of the rear heat shield structure of the Descent Module to ArianeGroup's facilities in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles.