All Missions

ESCAPADE

Successfully launched on November 13, 2025, aboard the New Glenn rocket, NASA's ESCAPADE mission (SIMPLEx program) deploys twin orbiters, Blue and Gold, toward Mars. Currently en route to point L2 for a gravity assist maneuver, the mission aims to reach Mars in 2027. They will use their coordinated sensors to study the magnetosphere in stereo and determine how the solar wind stripped the planet of its atmosphere and water.

Perseverance

Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in 2021 to search for ancient life and collect samples. It successfully deployed Ingenuity, the first helicopter on another world, and produced oxygen with MOXIE. It is the cornerstone of the future Mars Sample Return campaign.

Zhurong

Zhurong successfully landed at Utopia Planitia in May 2021 following the launch of the Long March 5 rocket. China became the second nation to operate a rover on Mars, mapping the subsurface and studying regional climate before entering final hibernation in May 2022.

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)

The ExoMars TGO mission (2016) is an ESA/Roscosmos orbiter focused on detecting trace gases. Following successful aerobraking in 2018, it operates in a circular science orbit. It has detected subsurface water and serves as the primary communication relay for all active rovers on Mars.

Curiosity (MSL)

Launched in 2011, the Curiosity (MSL) mission revolutionized Martian exploration by using the "Sky Crane" landing system to deposit a 900 kg nuclear-powered rover in Gale Crater in 2012. The mission confirmed that Mars once hosted ancient freshwater lakes and complex organic molecules, validating that the planet held habitable conditions in the past. It remains operational after more than 12 years.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

NASA's MRO mission, launched in 2005, has successfully operated for over 15 years. Using instruments like HiRISE and SHARAD, it has discovered vast subsurface ice deposits at mid-latitudes and serves as the primary communications relay for surface rovers.