Mar 31 1999
From The Space Library
The ESA signed a 60 million Euro contract with Matra Marconi Space, to design and build the Mars Express spacecraft, with a planned launch date of June 2003. The agency chose that target date because the planets would be in optimal alignment, allowing for minimum travel time to Mars with maximum payload capacity. Major space missions can require upwards of 11 years from concept to launch, and only six years remained before the 2003 date, so the ESA selected a contractor with the means to develop missions quickly and inexpensively. Matra Marconi demonstrated that it would be able to streamline the development of Mars Express, building and launching the mission for about half the budget required for similar efforts.
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