A preferred landing site for the European-Russian 2020 ExoMars mission has been chosen. Known as Oxia Planum, the landing site is just north of Mars’ equator.

The 2020 ExoMars rover is being built in the UK by Airbus Defence and Space for the European Space Agency. It will launch on a Russian rocket in 2020 and land on Mars the following year using a Russian-built platform.

The rover’s mission is to search for whether life began on Mars during its early history, when the red planet was warmer and wetter. Oxia Planum has been identified as an area that could have been a large lake, and whose terrain is safer to operate in than the other site on the shortlist, Mawrth Vallis.

Of particular interest to scientists are clay-bearing rocks, which date from almost 4bn years ago. These could have formed at the bottom of the lake and may hold the biomarkers of ancient life the scientists are hoping for.

The decision to recommend Oxia Planum as the landing site is the culmination of five years of deliberation. The choice will be reviewed by officials at ESA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.