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Europe’s Earth Return Orbiter reaches design maturity

Written by  Friday, 05 July 2024 05:39
Earth Return Orbiter around Mars

ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter, the first spacecraft that will rendezvous and capture an object around another planet, passed a key milestone to bring the first Mars samples back to Earth.

European excellence

Teams in Europe rely on already mature technologies in autonomous navigation, rendezvous and docking, an expertise built up over decades from missions like the Automated Transfer Vehicle and Europe’s first mission to Jupiter with JUICE. Knowledge from the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission to the Red Planet is also feeding into it.

ERO will be the largest spacecraft ever built for interplanetary flight. Contributions come from France, Italy, Germany, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Romania, and The Netherlands.


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