final decision. By March 2014, the long list was: Aram Dorsum Coogoon Valles Hypanis Vallis Mawrth Vallis Oxia Planum Simud Valles Southern Isidis Following additional review by an ESA-appointed panel, four sites, all of which are located relatively near the equator, were formally recommended in October 2014 for further detailed analysis: Aram Dorsum Hypanis Vallis Mawrth Vallis Oxia Planum On 21 October 2015, Oxia Planum was reported to be the preferred landing site for the ExoMars rover. The delay of the rover mission to 2020 from 2018 meant that Oxia Planum was no longer the only favourable landing site due to changes in the possible landing ellipse. Both Mawrth Vallis and Aram Dorsum, surviving candidates from the previous selection, could be reconsidered. ESA convened further workshops to re-evaluate the three remaining options and in March 2017 selected two sites to study in detail. Mawrth Vallis Oxia Planum On 9 November 2018, ESA announced that Oxia Planum was favoured by the Landing Site Selection Working Group. The favored Oxia Planum landing ellipse is situated at 18.20°N, 335.45°E. In 2019, Oxia Planum was confirmed by ESA as the landing site for the planned 2020 mission. Later that year, a flyover video of the landing site was released, created using high-accuracy 3D models of the terrain obtained from HiRISE. As of July 2020, it has not been stated by ESA if the choice of landing site will be affected by the delay of the mission beyond 2022, similar to the re-evaluation prompted by the first delay in 2018. See also References External links ExoMars Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science site ESA main web site The ExoMars project at RussianSpaceWeb.com Arrival at Mars (The New York Times; 16 October 2016) Animated video of ExoMars ExoMars article on eoPortal by ESA Missions to Mars European Space Agency programmes European Space Agency space probes Astrobiology space missions 2016 in spaceflight 2028 in spaceflight Russian space probes Roscosmos