War, budget cuts, a pandemic and a crash: For all its trials, Europe's ExoMars mission might be more deserving of the name Perseverance than NASA's Martian rover.

But the European Space Agency still hopes the mission can launch in 2028 on its long-delayed quest to search for extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet.

This time last year, the ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover was all ready for a September launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, planning to catch a ride on a Russian rocket and descend to the Martian surface on a Russian lander.

Then Moscow invaded Ukraine in March, and sanctions imposed by the ESA's 22 member states led to Russia pulling out and the mission being suspended.

With temperatures on the moon ranging from minus 410 to a scorching 250 degrees Fahrenheit, it's an understatement to say that humans will need habitats with heat and air conditioning to survive there long term.

But heating and cooling systems won't be effective enough to support habitats for lunar exploration or even longer trips to Mars without an understanding of what reduced gravity does to boiling and condensation.

Driven by concerns over space debris, in late November the French Ministry for the Armed Forces formally committed not to conduct anti-satellite missile tests. And yet, France's space strategy of 2019 resolved to "toughen" the country's space capabilities.

Given the short lapse of just three years, how can we make sense of France's seemingly contradictory space military policy?

A historic but surprising decision?

In October 2022, the United Nations voted to work towards putting an end to "destructive direct-ascent antisatellite missile testing"—that is, missiles fired at satellites from Earth's surface or from the air. France cosponsored the resolution and voted for it, despite possessing the technical expertise required to develop such a capacity.

The ministry's statement, published on 9 November 2022, is strongly worded. It dubs anti-satellite testing as "destabilizing and irresponsible," and insists France never conducted such tests. It also voices concerns about the potential impact of space debris on the integrity of in-use satellites, as well as for the space domain. France's decision follows that of the United States on 9 April 2022, which the Elysée Palace had then applauded.