Editing ExoMars (section)

==== Trace Gas Orbiter ====
{{Main|ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter}}

The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is a Mars telecommunications orbiter and atmospheric gas analyzer mission that was launched on 14 March 2016 09:31 UTC.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clark |first=Stephen |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/09/20/launch-of-european-mars-mission-delayed-two-months/ |title=Launch of European Mars mission delayed two months |work=Spaceflight Now |date=20 September 2015 |access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref> The spacecraft arrived in the Martian orbit in October 2016. It delivered the ExoMars Schiaparelli EDM lander and then proceed to map the sources of [[methane on Mars]] and other gases, and in doing so, will help select the landing site for the ExoMars [[Rover (space exploration)|rover]] to be launched in 2022. The presence of methane in Mars's atmosphere is intriguing because its likely origin is either present-day life or geological activity. Upon the arrival of the rover in 2023, the orbiter would be transferred into a lower orbit where it would be able to perform analytical science activities as well as provide the ExoMars rover with a telecommunication relay. NASA provided an ''Electra'' telecommunications relay and navigation instrument to ensure communications between probes and rovers on the surface of Mars and controllers on Earth.<ref name="ESA signed" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Peter B. |last=de Selding |title=U.S., Europe Won't Go It Alone in Mars Exploration |url=https://spacenews.com/us-europe-wont-go-it-alone-mars-exploration/ |work=Space News|date=October 3, 2012|access-date=December 5, 2022}}</ref> The TGO would continue serving as a telecommunication relay satellite for future landed missions until 2022.<ref name="June 2011">{{citation |first1=Mark |last1=Allen |first2=Olivier |last2=Witasse |title=MEPAG June 2011 |publisher=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |date=16 June 2011 |url=http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meeting/jun-11/13-EMTGO_MEPAG_June2011_presentation-rev2.pdf|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929004716/http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/meeting/jun-11/13-EMTGO_MEPAG_June2011_presentation-rev2.pdf|archive-date=29 September 2011}}</ref>