Almería, Spain — European space teams have completed a full-scale field rehearsal for operating the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosalind Franklin Mars rover from Earth. The eight-day driving exercise took place in Spain’s Tabernas desert, where an Airbus-built prototype named Charlie was remotely operated by scientists and engineers based about 1,200 kilometres away at the Rover Operations Control Centre (ROCC) in Turin, Italy.
The exercise formed part of a broader 20-day field campaign involving around 100 scientists and engineers from across Europe. The Tabernas desert was selected because its dry and rocky terrain provides conditions resembling parts of the Martian surface.
Autonomous Rover Driving
Charlie used the same guidance, navigation and control software planned for the Rosalind Franklin flight rover. During the eighth-day driving period, the prototype travelled a total of 220 metres.
On the sixth day, operators allowed Charlie to drive autonomously. It travelled more than 60 metres without an operator at the controls, recording a navigation error of less than 1%.
The exercise was designed to test how teams will operate the rover when real-time control is not possible because of the communication delay between Earth and Mars. Teams prepared and uploaded driving plans before periods of autonomous operation, then used the returned data to prepare the next set of instructions.
Testing Scientific Operations
The field campaign also tested the scientific procedures planned for the Mars mission. Teams in Turin analysed daily data from the rover before deciding where it should travel and which instruments should be used.
Charlie carried prototype versions of several Rosalind Franklin instruments, including the PanCam panoramic cameras, CLUPI close-up camera, WISDOM ground-penetrating radar and Enfys infrared spectrometer.
The instruments were used to examine the terrain, study minerals and identify locations that could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life, which is a primary objective of the Rosalind Franklin mission.
One test highlighted the importance of combining different sources of terrain information. Data initially made a slope appear dangerously steep to the operators in Italy, prompting a conservative approach. After the team generated a digital elevation map, it confirmed that the slope was actually gentle and the rover could proceed safely.
Preparing for Mars
The desert exercise was organised in Spain by Airbus UK, while The Open University managed activities at the Turin control centre. Thales Alenia Space is the industrial lead for the overall rover mission, with Airbus responsible for the rover vehicle, landing platform and navigation software. ALTEC hosts and operates the Turin control centre.
The Rosalind Franklin rover is scheduled for launch in late 2028 and targeted to land at Oxia Planum on Mars in 2030.
Once on Mars, the rover will use a drill capable of reaching up to two metres below the surface. The deeper samples will provide access to material protected from surface radiation and conditions, which will then be analysed by the rover’s onboard laboratory for potential biosignatures.
ESA plans further field testing in 2027, with future exercises expected to introduce additional operational challenges, including simulated communication delays involving a Mars orbiter.
The results from the 2026 campaign will be used to refine the rover’s hardware operations and procedures ahead of the planned 2030 Mars mission.
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