The European Space Agency (ESA) has conducted a successful test for its massive parachutes designed for the upcoming ExoMars Mars landing mission. The parachutes, which are over 35 meters wide, were dropped from an altitude of almost 30 kilometers and successfully deployed.
The testing comes as uncertainty surrounds US involvement in the project due to ongoing debates over NASA’s stake in ExoMars. However, the ESA has been working on the parachutes independently, with a planned test dating back to 2019.
The system is designed to slow the descent of the ExoMars lander using two parachutes: one smaller for initial deceleration and another larger for the final descent. The largest parachute, measuring over 35 meters wide, will be the largest ever deployed over Mars.
The successful test took place at the Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, northern Sweden, on July 7. The move is seen as a confirmation of the agency’s readiness for the mission and a verification that the parachutes are performing as expected after long storage.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/21/esa_exomars_chute_test