ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover is designed to drill up to 2 metres into Mars—deeper than any planned rover sampling reach so far—to look for possible signs of ancient life. The rover has not yet reached Mars: ESA’s current schedule targets a launch in late 2028, followed by a journey of about two years to Oxia Planum.
Why drill below the Martian surface?
Mars’s surface is exposed to ionising radiation and other harsh conditions that can degrade organic material. Rosalind Franklin is designed to reach deeper material that may be better preserved, then bring samples inside the rover for analysis. A deeper sample could offer a better chance of finding preserved clues, but it would not by itself prove that life existed.
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The mission is aimed at Oxia Planum, an ancient, clay-rich region where minerals formed in the presence of abundant liquid water. That geological history makes it a promising place to investigate whether conditions once supported life and whether possible biosignatures remain.
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How deep will Rosalind Franklin drill?
The flight rover is designed for a maximum vertical reach of 2 metres. That is a planned capability, not a depth already achieved on Mars. ESA’s mission overview describes a planning scenario with six experiment cycles and two vertical surveys; a full-depth survey would collect samples at 50-centimetre intervals. In that scenario, the drill is expected to acquire and deliver 20 samples. These are design and planning figures, not guaranteed results from the mission.
Did the rover already drill 1.7 metres on Mars?
No. The 1.7-metre result was achieved in 2023 by Amalia, an Earth-based test model of the rover, in Mars-like ground in Italy. The test model delivered a sample for analysis, but it was not a Mars operation. ESA’s report from that year said the deepest drill sampling then achieved on Mars was 7.1 centimetres; that is a dated comparison from 2023, not a verified current record.
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How will its instruments search for evidence?
The rover’s Pasteur payload uses a sequence of instruments to establish geological context, choose targets and analyse drilled material. Cameras and spectrometers help scientists understand the rocks before samples are collected; onboard instruments then examine samples and their chemistry at progressively finer scales.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Instrument | Role |
|---|---|
| PanCam | Provides geological context and images of rocks. |
| Enfys | Assesses mineralogy. |
| CLUPI | Takes close-up images. |
| WISDOM | Uses ground-penetrating radar to help plan drilling. |
| Ma_MISS | Examines mineralogy on the borehole wall from inside the drill. |
| MicrOmega | Studies crushed sample material. |
| RLS | Examines minerals and carbon compounds. |
| MOMA | Searches sensitively for organic molecules. |
Finding an organic molecule would identify chemistry worth investigating, not establish that it was made by living organisms. Scientists must interpret any result alongside the sample’s minerals, structure and geological setting.
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When is the mission expected to launch, and who is contributing?
ESA’s current mission overview schedules launch for late 2028 and estimates the trip to Mars at approximately two years. That is a target schedule; neither launch nor landing has occurred. The overview gives a nominal surface mission duration of 218 Martian solar days, or sols.
Rosalind Franklin is an ESA-led European rover, with contributions from international partners. NASA’s 16 May 2024 announcement describes its commitments under an agreement with ESA: procuring a US commercial launch provider, supplying heater units and elements of the lander propulsion system, and providing components for MOMA. Those are contributions described in the agreement, not confirmation that the mission has launched.
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The UK Space Agency’s 2024–25 annual report identifies PanCam and Raman as UK-funded instruments and reports that Enfys passed its Critical Design Review in 2024. These are specific contributions and a dated milestone, not a blanket statement about the current readiness of all flight hardware.
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Sources
- European Space Agency, ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission overview
- European Space Agency, “ExoMars rover testing moves ahead and deep down,” 14 March 2023
- NASA, “NASA, European Space Agency Unite to Land Europe’s Rover on Mars,” 16 May 2024
- UK Space Agency, Annual Report 2024–25
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