The International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG) is a forum for

space agencies Government space agencies, established by the governments of countries and regional agencies (groupings of countries) are established as a means for advocating for engaging in activities related to outer space, exploitation of space systems, ...

and institutions to exchange ideas and information and discuss common strategy and initiatives for

exploration Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. The working group meets several times per year. Conceived in 1993, IMEWG's goal is to keep all parties informed and thereby avoid duplication of effort, and to discuss potential areas for collaboration/cooperation during the various phases of exploration. Founding participants included

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

, several European national agencies and those of Japan and Russia. IMEWG was initially chartered with the following goals: * Produce an international strategy for the exploration of Mars beyond the currently approved missions. * Provide a forum for the coordination of future Mars exploration programmes. * Examine the possibilities for an international Mars network mission as the next step beyond the 1996 opportunity. The first IMEWG recommendations on an international strategy for Mars exploration, covering launch opportunities from 1996 to 2003, included an International Mars Network. The recommendations were presented at the COSPAR Symposium in Hamburg, 1994, and published. The charter was updated in 1996 with the following goals: * Produce and maintain an international strategy for the exploration of Mars. * Provide a forum for the coordination of Mars exploration missions. * Examine the possibilities for the next steps beyond the currently defined missions. IMEWG meetings have also afforded an opportunity to reflect on the implications of mission losses for future programmes (e.g. in 2000). Later IMEWG initiatives have covered themes such as exobiology, planetary protection, Mars Sample Return, lower cost missions, common standards and interoperability (e.g. for data relay), radioisotope power systems, terrestrial Mars analogues, and preparations for future human exploration. The international Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) Working Group was chartered by IMEWG in mid-2006 to develop a potential plan for an internationally sponsored and executed Mars sample return (MSR) mission. An iMARS Phase 2 Working Group was constituted in 2014 for drafting a Mission Architecture and Science Management Plan for the return of samples from Mars. In 2024 the IMEWG Terms of Reference were updated once more, with the objectives reformulated as follows: # Share information and plans relating to the development of national and international Mars exploration programs. # Encourage international co-operation and co-ordination in the development of Mars exploration programs. # Facilitate the interoperability of Mars exploration systems and minimize duplication. # Explore opportunities for collaboration and coordinated missions.

Agencies Represented

* Australia:

Australian Space Agency The Australian Space Agency is an agency of the Australian Government responsible for the development of Australia's commercial aerospace industry, coordinating domestic space activities, identifying opportunities and facilitating internatio ...

(ASA) * Austria:

Austrian Research Promotion Agency The Austrian Research Promotion Agency ( or FFG) is an organization for the promotion of research and innovation in the field of applied and industrial research in Austria and is 100% owned by the Austria, Republic of Austria . The aim is to str ...

(FFG) (previously

Austrian Space Agency The Austrian Space Agency, officially known since 2005 as the Aeronautics and Space Agency (German: Agentur für Luft- und Raumfahrt), is an organization whose purpose is to coordinate Austrian space exploration-related activities. It has been in ...

(ASA)) * Belgium:

Belgian Federal Science Policy Office The Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy (; ; ) or Belgian Science Policy Office, Federal Science Policy, known by the acronym BELSPO, is the federal government body responsible for research policy in Belgium. It designs and implements ...

(BELSPO) * Brazil:

Brazilian Space Agency The Brazilian Space Agency (; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for the country's Space exploration, space program. It operates a spaceport at Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, Alcântara, and a rocket launch site at Centro ...

(AEB) * Canada:

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; ) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The President of the Canadian Space Agency, president is Lisa Campbell (civil servant), Lisa Campbell, who took ...

(CSA) * China:

China National Space Administration The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is a government agency of the People's Republic of China headquartered in Haidian District, Haidian, Beijing, responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation. These ...

(CNSA) * Czech Republic:

Czech Space Office The Czech Space Office, CSO () was the central contact point for the coordination of space science related activities in the Czech Republic. It fulfilled tasks of the national information and advisory centre for the academia on opportunities to en ...

(CSO) * Europe:

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

(ESA) * Finland: Finnish Space Committee FSC (previously

Finnish Meteorological Institute The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; ; ) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport and Communications but it operates semi-autonomousl ...

(FMI)) * France:

Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. It operates from the Toulouse Space ...

(CNES) * Germany:

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

(DLR) (previously Deutsche Agentur fiir Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA)) * Greece: Hellenic Space Center (HSC) * Iceland: Iceland Space Agency ISA * India:

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...

(ISRO) * Italy:

Agenzia Spaziale Italiana The Italian Space Agency (; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entities who are active in aerospac ...

(ASI) * Japan:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national Aeronautics, air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satell ...

(JAXA) (previously

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science , or ISAS, is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets, astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Established as part of the University of Tokyo ...

(ISAS)) * Mongolia: Mars V * Netherlands:

Netherlands Space Office The Netherlands Space Office (NSO) is the space agency of the Netherlands. Creation Three Dutch government ministries — the Ministry of Economic Affairs; the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; and the Ministry of Infrastructure and ...

(NSO) * Norway:

Norwegian Space Agency The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) (formerly the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC); Norwegian'':'' ''Norsk Romsenter'') is a Norwegian government agency that follows Norway's public space activities. NOSA's goal is to ensure that Norway benefits from ...

(NOSA) * Poland:

Polish Space Agency The Polish Space Agency (POLSA; Polish language, Polish: ''Polska Agencja Kosmiczna'', PAK) is the List of government space agencies, space agency of Poland, administered by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (Poland), Ministry o ...

(POLSA) * Russia:

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

(previously Russian Space Agency (RKA)) * Saudi Arabia: Saudi Space Agency (SSA) (previously Saudi Space Commission (SSC)) * South Korea:

Korea Aerospace Research Institute The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI; ), established in 1989, is the aeronautics and space agency of South Korea. Its main laboratories are located in Daejeon, in the Daedeok Science Town. KARI's vision is to continue building upon in ...

(KARI) * Spain: Agencia Espacial Española (AEE) (previously Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI)) * Sweden: Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) (previously Swedish National Space Board (SNSB)) * Switzerland: Swiss Space Office (SSO) * Thailand: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) * United Arab Emirates: UAE Space Agency (UAESA) * United Kingdom:

UK Space Agency The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) is an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the United Kingdom's British space programme, civil space programme. It was established on 1 April 2010 to replace the Britis ...

(UKSA) (previously

British National Space Centre The British National Space Centre (BNSC) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom. It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the UK Space Agency. Structu ...

(BNSC)) * United States:

National Aeronautics & Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

(NASA)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Website
Exploration of Mars Working groups

Agencies Represented

See also

References

External links