The Mars express mission concept - A new management approach

Mars Express, planned to be the first 'flexible mission' in the revised ESA Long-Term Scientific Programme, is based on a fast implementation scenario and will be launched towards Mars in June 2003 by a Soyuz/Fregat launcher. The mission is cost-capped at 150 MECU and will be submitted for approval by ESA's Science Programme Committee in November 1998. Its payload has already been selected and European industry will submit bids for the design and development phases (Phases-B/C and D) at the beginning of September 1998. The spacecraft will carry a payload of seven instruments for remote observation of the red planet, four of which are based on developments in ESA Member States for the ill-fated Russian Mars-96 mission, There is also a possibility to carry a 60 kg lander, provided the financing needed for its development can be borne by the sponsoring scientific institutions. ESA's aim is to implement a top-class mission at a much lower cost than hitherto achieved. Savings will be made by musing, as far as possible, equipment from other missions, compressing the implementation schedule from mission approval to launch to less than four years, by adopting a new working relationship with industry, and by providing a direct interface between the scientific community and industry.