National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy for ESA Mars Rover Mission

Exam-focused facts from the 19 April 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosalind Franklin rover mission to Mars.
The launch is scheduled for late 2028 under the Rosalind Franklin Support and Augmentation (ROSA) project.
The launch contract is valued at $175.7 million, which includes the launch service and other mission-related costs.
NASA is providing braking engines, electronics, a mass spectrometer, and Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) that use the decay of plutonium to generate heat for the rover.
The mission was restructured after ESA ended cooperation with Russia, which was originally providing the Proton launch vehicle and landing stage.