---
title: "Airbus Is Officially Building an “Interplanetary Cargo Ship”"
description: "Aerospace giant Airbus is planning to bring back the first ever rock samples from Mars using what it claims to be the \"first interplanetary cargo ship.\""
date: "2020-07-31"
modified: "2020-07-31"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/airbus-interplanetary-cargo-ship"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "ESA"
  - "mars"
  - "perseverance"
  - "the digest"
---

# Airbus Is Officially Building an “Interplanetary Cargo Ship”

![Aerospace giant Airbus is planning to bring back the first ever rock samples from Mars using what it claims to be the "first interplanetary cargo ship."](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/airbus-interplanetary-cargo-ship.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: ESA\</em\>*

## Heavy Lift

The European Space Agency has officially hired aerospace giant Airbus build a spacecraft designed to bring back the first ever rock samples from Mars, the [*BBC* reports](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53575353>).

The goal is to help confirm if ancient life has ever existed on the Red Planet by carrying back samples collected by NASA's Perseverance rover.

## Hard Problem

It's an ambitious, multi-billion dollar project, according to [recently announced plans](<https://spacenews.com/nasa-and-esa-outline-cost-of-mars-sample-return/>).

"This is not just twice as difficult as any typical Mars mission; it's twice squared — when you think about the complexity involved," David Parker, the director of human and robotic exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA), told the *BBC*.

"And this satellite that Airbus will build — I like to call it 'the first interplanetary cargo ship', because that's what it will be doing," he added. "It's designed to carry cargo between Mars and Earth."

## Interplanetary DHL

The spacecraft, dubbed the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), will weigh a whopping 6.5 tons and launch in 2026. Ion engines, powered by massive solar arrays, will power its journey there and back, according to the *BBC*.

Getting Mars rocks back to Earth will involve a patchwork of robots from both NASA and ESA working in tandem.

First, [according to *SpaceNews*](<https://spacenews.com/nasa-and-esa-outline-cost-of-mars-sample-return/>), a different, yet-unnamed NASA lander carrying an ESA-built "fetch rover" will pick up Perseverance's sample tubes, according to the article, and put them in the unnamed lander. A small rocket called the Mars Ascent Vehicle will then bring the samples into the planet's orbit.

Once it's orbiting Mars, ERO will rendezvous with those samples of Martian rock and attempt to ship them back to Earth inside a soccer ball-sized container, the *BBC* reports. It will then release the capsule over the Utah desert in 2031, if everything goes according to plan.

**READ MORE:** [Airbus to build 'first interplanetary cargo ship'](<https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53575353>) \[*BBC*\]

**More on Perseverance:** *[NASA's New Rover Hit a Glitch After Launch, Entered "Safe Mode"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-rover-glitch-safe-mode>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)