Credit: Airbus
European Space Agency Member States have called for the cancellation of the Earth Return Orbiter, a key element of plans to return samples from the surface of Mars.
The Earth Return Orbiter was to be ESA’s primary contribution to NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission, responsible for capturing samples launched from the Martian surface and returning them to Earth. ESA awarded Airbus Defence and Space a €491 million contract in October 2020 to develop and deliver the Earth Return Orbiter.
In September 2023, an independent NASA review board report stated that the Mars Sample Return mission’s budget and schedule expectations were “unrealistic.” Following the completion of feasibility studies exploring alternative mission architectures, the US Senate voted in January 2026 to cut funding for the mission, effectively killing it.
During a press conference following the U.S. Senate’s decision to cut funding for the mission, ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, Daniel Neuenschwander, made the unambiguous statement that “Mars Sample Return is currently not planned to be continued.” He did, however, not share how this would affect the development of ESA’s main contribution to the mission, the Earth Return Orbiter.
The uncertainty surrounding the future of the Earth Return Orbiter was addressed during a press conference following the 345th ESA Council meeting. Responding to a question about the funding shortfall in ESA’s Exploration programme, Neuenschwander said that Member States had “asked for the cancellation of the Earth Return Orbiter mission.” He added that the agency had begun discussions with the mission’s prime contractor, Airbus Defence and Space, to manage the transition and to “maximise the return on investment on the reuse of some technology,” citing the electric propulsion system as one element that could potentially be reused.
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