NASA Selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy to Launch ESA Rosalind Franklin Mars Rover
Summary: On April 16, 2026, NASA announced that implementation work had begun to launch the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin Mars rover in 2028 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. This decision resolves years of launch uncertainties for the rover, which had faced multiple delays due to the breakdown of the Russian partnership, technical issues, and budget overruns.
Credit: NASA (Public Domain)
The Rosalind Franklin rover is the centerpiece of ESA's ExoMars program, designed to search for signs of past and present life on Mars. Equipped with a subsurface drilling system and automated sample collection and analysis instruments, the rover will study the Martian surface's geochemical environment. The mission was originally planned for launch with Russian cooperation, but the partnership fell apart following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leaving the mission in limbo.
NASA's decision not only provides ESA with a reliable launch solution but also demonstrates the close cooperation between the US and Europe in deep space exploration. The Falcon Heavy's proven high-payload capacity in the Earth-Moon space has led to multiple US national security and scientific missions, and this selection further validates its competitiveness in the international launch market.
The rover has completed most of its testing and is planned for launch during the 2028 window, when it will join China's Tianwen-3 and the US Mars Sample Return campaign in a multi-national Mars exploration effort.