On Thursday, April 26th, NASA and ESA signed a Statement of Intent to jointly develop a Mars Sample Return plan to be submitted to their respective authorities by the end of 2019. Those authorities, the United States Congress via President’s Budget Request and the ESA Ministerial Council via their December 2019 meeting, would be expected to act upon this request in 18 months.

For more information, visit: https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/announcements.cfm?expand=hq

The statement of intent is available in pdf form at: https://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/announcements/2018-04-26%20NASA-ESA%20SOI%20(Signed).pdf