ESA completes two-month Mars terrain test with Rosalind Franklin rover stand-in

ESA completed a two-month test campaign on Earth in which the full-scale Rosalind Franklin rover stand-in Amalia drove across simulated Martian terrain that included slopes, boulders and Mars-like gravity, with the work reported Oct. 20, 2026.

Astrobiology Web reports that Amalia, a twin of the flight rover, rehearsed driving off the landing platform more than 20 times, a step the outlet describes as one of the most critical tasks of the mission. The test recreated reduced gravity, a 20-degree incline, uneven ground and obstacles beneath the ramps the rover will face on Mars.

The Airbus-built landing module is 12 feet (3.8 meters) across and must sustain atmospheric entry at 13,000 mph (21,000 kph), then slow with retro-rockets and parachutes to 100 mph (152 kph) and seven mph (11 kph), within six minutes from entering Mars’ upper atmosphere to touchdown.

Late last year, ESA validated the lander concept by firing a miniature capsule just three inches (eight cm) in diameter from a smooth-bore gun at the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis in France. Across 20 different models, the sensor-packed capsule flew 755 feet (230 meters) at supersonic speed in half a second, reaching 2,672 mph (4,300 kph) and withstanding 17,000 Gs, with magnetometers, accelerometers and radar monitoring its movement.

ExoMars was originally intended to launch in 2020, but parachute problems pushed the date to 2022, and Russia missed that deadline when it invaded Ukraine and ESA ended cooperation with Russia. ESA suspended the mission in 2022, then turned to the United States for help. The rover is part of the ExoMars program run by ESA, which is assembling the rocket, carrier spacecraft and lander with Thales Alenia Space and Airbus.

ESA said Nov. 26, 2025 that the Rosalind Franklin rover will launch in 2028 after repeated delays, and Director General Josef Aschbacher said he received a letter from the NASA administration confirming U.S. contributions at the ESA ministerial council meeting in Bremen. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy will launch the rover from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than 2028, a detail learned at the beginning of April 2026.

EarthSky reports the rover will land on Mars in 2028. Phys.org says ESA plans a 2028 launch and a 2030 touchdown, while Autoevolution says the lander should deposit the rover sometime in 2030.

NASA is contributing three mission elements — the launcher, a radioisotope heater unit and a braking engine — plus one instrument to analyze traces of possible life on Mars. ESA disclosed the confirmations, with the braking engine confirmed earlier and the launcher and heater-unit confirmations a relief to ESA. The mission depends on three NASA elements while President Donald Trump has pursued steep budget cuts for those items since he came back to the White House in January.

Rosalind Franklin aims to be the first Mars rover able to drill down to two meters (6.5 feet) below the surface in the hunt for signs of extraterrestrial life. Its drill can punch holes 6.6 feet (two meters) deep into Martian soil to collect samples with the greatest chance of containing traces of life, since the overlying soil shields them from radiation and extreme temperatures.

EarthSky reports that Oxia Planum holds clay deposits more extensive than previously thought, based on a study in Icarus dated April 19, 2026, with findings stated June 4, 2026. The clays stretch about 373 miles (600 km), reach into Mawrth Vallis 185 miles (300 km) away and rise over 0.6 miles (one km) in altitude. They are about four billion years old, older than those at Mawrth Vallis and nearly as old as Mars itself, which is 4.5 billion years old. A geological map and video of the region identify 15 different geological features.

Inés Torres Auré said, “Oxia Planum’s clays formed first, about 4 billion years ago, predating those at Mawrth Vallis.” ExoMars project scientist Jorge Vago said the widespread clay abundance indicates a regional or global process requiring immense amounts of water, possibly tied to an ancient northern ocean, and that the mission targets the oldest deposits in the sequence.

ExoMars deputy project scientist Elliot Sefton-Nash said the rover will use its onboard instruments to ground-truth orbital discoveries, learn the ancient environment in which the clays formed, and check whether they preserve evidence of Martian life. Torres Auré said researchers are mapping the full extent of the clay deposits, identifying additional formation pauses and quantifying their duration before the rover starts work.

EarthSky reports that orbital mineralogy from the OMEGA instrument on ESA’s Mars Express and the CRISM instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found similar clay layers at Oxia Planum and Mawrth Vallis. Scientists identified a paleosurface at the boundary between the two main clay units, marking an ancient cratered surface covered by younger clay, a pause in sedimentation, and a shift in water chemistry and mineralogy. The findings support earlier research suggesting Mars experienced an intermittently wet climate.

EarthSky reports that scientists announced last year that rockfalls and ancient floods could have brought organic materials close to the Rosalind Franklin landing site, where the rover can sample them. The outlet says the clays might have formed in groundwater that once flooded the region, and the rover should determine whether that or an ancient northern ocean explains the deposits.

ESA named the rover for scientist Rosalind Franklin in 2019; she helped reveal DNA’s double helix structure in the early 1950s. Six robot rovers have driven across Mars, and only Curiosity and Perseverance remain active; Rosalind Franklin would join them when it arrives.