Schiaparelli EDM lander at Mars. Illustration of the Mars atmospheric entry of the Schiaparelli ExoMars Demonstrator Module (EDM) lander from the European Space Agency (ESA). Due for launch in March 2016, Schiaparelli will test controlled landing procedures on Mars for a later launch in 2018. Arriving in October 2016, heat shields will protect it as it slows to around 2500 kilometres per hour. A parachute will be deployed along with a Doppler radar altimeter and velocimeter. A liquid propulsion system will further slow the lander, with a crushable structure protecting it when the engines cut out 2 metres above the surface of the landing site in Meridiani Planum.