[meteorite-list] Facing Funding Gap, ExoMars Rover is on Schedule For Now

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1403/03exomars/
 
Facing funding gap, ExoMars rover is on schedule for now
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
March 3, 2014

The lead builder of Europe's ExoMars rover, the British division of Airbus 
Defence and Space, has started procuring critical components for the Mars 
mission as the European Space Agency culls the continent to close a funding 
gap.

The rover is the first built in Europe and is set for launch in May 2018 
inside a Russian atmospheric entry shield aboard a Proton rocket.

The 2018 mission is the second part of the two-launch ExoMars program. 
A European-built atmospheric research orbiter and stationary lander will 
launch on another Proton booster in March 2016.

Russia signed on to the mission with ESA after NASA almost entirely dropped 
out of the ExoMars program in 2012 due to budget woes in the United States. 
NASA is still contributing hardware for science instruments and a communications 
package to relay signals between the Martian surface and Earth.

"For the completion of the 2018 ExoMars mission, the rover mission, things 
still need to come together in terms of financial contributions across 
Europe," said Ralph Cordey, head of science and exploration at the UK 
division of Airbus Defence and Space, formerly known as Astrium UK. "There 
is still a gap to be filled. We're very confident that's going to happen. 
The mission as a whole is rolling ahead and there is a huge momentum there. 
But in terms of the details, some things may get changed."

ESA direct-general Jean-Jacques Dordain has directed agency officials 
to identify funding sources to pay for the shortfall of more than 100 
million euros, or $138 million.

"He has been extremely creative," Cordey said.

In October, ESA's governing council agreed to funnel nearly 15 million 
euros ($20 million) in entry fees from new ESA member states Poland and 
Romania directly to ExoMars to help fill the budget gap. ESA's science 
division, a mandatory program for the agency's 20 member states, also 
added ExoMars to its portfolio, giving the mission access to additional 
funding.

ExoMars is considered primarily an exploration mission instead of a scientific 
program, falling under ESA's robotic exploration directorate.

Airbus is a subcontractor in an industrial ExoMars consortium led by Thales 
Alenia Space of Italy and France.

"ESA has been able to release enough money to essentially allow us to 
ramp up our team and to make the [necessary] procurements, but there will 
come a point when it's not," Cordey said in an interview last month. "There 
is a shortfall that needs to be plugged. The good news is we're full steam 
ahead at the moment in releasing [contracts] for long-lead items. So that's 
very positive, but it needs to be solved."

Paul Meacham, systems engineer for the ExoMars rover at Airbus Defence 
and Space, said most of the rover's industrial suppliers have been selected 
from across Europe.

One exception is the rover's locomotion system -- the wheels and suspension 
system -- to be manufactured by MDA Corp. in Canada.

"All the critical stuff is being kicked off now," Meacham said. "The locomotion 
system is kicked off, the computer, the power distribution system, communications 
system ... Most of the suppliers have been selected, and the rest of them 
will happen over the next year or so with the remaining items which are 
slightly less critical so they have shorter lead times."

ESA has sufficient funding for the 2016 ExoMars mission.

Cordey said Airbus needs further financial commitments within a year to 
keep development of the ExoMars rover on schedule for the May 2018 launch 
window, which is limited by the alignment of Earth and Mars. Launch opportunities 
to the red planet only come every 26 months.

"In principle, we would be OK, I think, into next year," Cordey said. 
"But in practice, because of the commitments we have to make to people, 
I think you want to get it sorted and understood before then."

ESA member states typically commit funding to programs at ministerial-level 
council meetings. Another such conclave is scheduled for early December, 
but its agenda is limited to decisions on launchers and European participation 
in the International Space Station.

"Progress this year I think will be outside that forum," Cordey said. 
"We would like to have reassurance and good news, but a lot of money has 
already been spent on the program -- the 2016 and the 2018 missions. There's 
just a little bit more to go to fill the gap."

The total cost of ExoMars to ESA is expected to be about 1.2 billion euros, 
or nearly $1.7 billion, not including contributions from individual member 
states, Russia and the United States. The figure covers both the 2016 
and 2018 missions.

"We would hope that the member states, particularly some of the key member 
states who are already getting a lot of work from ExoMars beyond what 
they've put in in terms of contributions will step up to the mark and 
at least cover the contributions that need to be covered for the work 
their industries are doing," Cordey said. "Germany and France, in particular, 
we would be looking toward."

Italy is the largest contributor to ExoMars, and the UK is the mission's 
second-largest financial backer. Germany and France are the two largest 
funding suppliers to ESA's overall budget.

"We've seen the UK stepping up its contributions generally to ESA, and 
the UK has quite a strong agenda to do with economic return and economic 
impact of things," Cordey said. "I think it's a good sign the UK is doing 
that and I hope other nations will do the same."

The ExoMars rover will weigh about 660 pounds, or 300 kilograms, when 
it launches cocooned inside a Russian-built descent and landing system, 
according to Meacham.

Outfitted with a drill to extract soil up to 2 meters, or 6 feet, below 
the Martian surface, the rover is designed to operate at least seven months 
and drive 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles, after landing in early 2019, Meacham 
said.

The mission is the first European Mars rover, and its international complement 
of instruments will analyze Martian soil, including underground samples 
for the first time, for signs of organic material and biomarkers indicative 
of ancient life.

"It will all be built and assembled here," Meacham said from the Airbus 
planet in Stevenage, about 30 miles north of London. "We're building a 
clean room soon to do that. Once we build the rover, which is everything 
less the science instruments and the drill, it will then be shipped to 
italy where they will put on the instruments and drill."