This laboratory was designed to replicate the surface and sky of Mars to provide realistic simulated conditions for the testing of the EXOMARS rover (photo bottom left) that was originally due for launch on the ESA/Russia EXOMARS mission in 2018. The main feature of the design was a 30-metre diameter dome that was volumetrically slightly larger than a hemisphere.

The  intended site was at ESTEC, ESA's technology centre at Noordwijk in The Netherlands. The floor of the dome contained an area of terrain that replicated the surface of Mars with craters, mounds, boulders, rocks, escarpments and dust, all designed to challenge the rover's ability to negotiate obstacles and to test its cameras and navigation.

A pit contained saturated terrain and a refrigeration system to enable testing of the rovers drill in a simulated water ice field. The dome over the terrain simulated the Martian sky with a bright light source to resemble the distant sun and graduated lighting to resemble the increased sky brightness close to the horizon (image top). The building had a steel structure (image bottom centre) with full air-conditioning and special provisions for airborne dust removal from the terrain. The laboratory's external appearance aimed to convey a strong space exploration theme (image bottom right). Extended delays with the EXOMARS mission halted the laboratory project.

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