US will pay in full for Mars soil delivery - cost of mission could rise from $4bn to $11bn

NASA will receive full funding from the government for a mission to bring soil from Mars to Earth. The only organisation that is not thrilled with this news is the European Space Agency.

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The US House of Representatives has agreed to fully pay for the delivery of soil from the Red Planet, despite the fact that the cost risks almost tripling. In addition, NASA because of this will not be able to fulfil its promise to the European Space Agency. But first things first.

The U.S. can not lag behind the Chinese space programme, even if it has to go to great financial losses. The mission to deliver soil samples from Mars is called MSR (Mars Sample Return). Initially, its budget was $4 billion, but in the end, the implementation of MSR may cost more than $11 billion.

The US authorities promise to provide full funding and have allocated about $1bn, which was requested for 2024. The launch has been pushed back to 2030, meaning it will take place about 2-3 years later than originally planned.

Because of this, NASA will not be able to send the Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars. It was planned that the launch will take place before 2028. It is possible that now because of the delays, the equipment will simply come into disrepair.

Source: SpaceNews