Mars exploration database

All Missions

Every mission ever sent to the Red Planet: orbiters, landers, rovers and the helicopter that flew. Filter, explore the chronology and open each file.

64MissionsLaunched
8ActiveWorking now
50%Success rateReached their goal
7Rovers
13Landers
30Orbiters
1Helicopters

Chronology of Mars exploration

Drag, scroll or use the arrows. The bars show how many missions launched each year: they cluster around the launch windows that open every 26 months.

ActiveCompletedFailedUpcoming
All64 Active8 Completed25 Failed28 Upcoming5
All Orbiter30 Lander13 Rover7 Flyby14 Helicopter1 Sample return1
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Showing 12 of 66 missions

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Failed · landing failure
ESA

Schiaparelli EDM

Schiaparelli EDM (Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module), launched on March 14, 2016 as part of the ExoMars mission, was an ESA and Roscosmos technology demonstrator designed to validate entry, descent, and landing systems on Mars. After successfully separating from the TGO orbiter on October 16, the module began its atmospheric descent on October 19, but a saturation in the inertial measurement unit caused an erroneous altitude calculation, premature parachute deployment, and the subsequent fatal impact on the surface of Meridiani Planum.

Lander
Operating in orbit
ESA

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), launched in March 2016 by ESA and Roscosmos, is an orbital mission dedicated to studying the Martian atmosphere and searching for trace gases such as methane. Following a long aerobraking process, it began its scientific phase in April 2018 and remains operational, combining atmospheric research with its work as a communications relay.

Orbiter
Completed · full success
NASA

MAVEN

MAVEN concluded its mission on June 3, 2026. Over 11 years, it quantified Martian atmospheric erosion, establishing that 66% of primordial argon was lost via sputtering. Despite the loss of control in December 2025, its scientific and operational legacy for the rovers is fundamental.

Orbiter
Operating on the surface
NASA

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.

Rover
Failed · launch failure
Roscosmos

Phobos-Grunt

Phobos-Grunt was an ambitious sample return mission by Roscosmos designed to explore the Martian moon Phobos and the Martian environment. Following a successful launch in November 2011, the spacecraft became trapped in low Earth orbit due to a critical failure in the onboard computers. It failed to execute its trans-Mars injection attempt and destructively reentered Earth's atmosphere in January 2012.

Sample return
Failed · launch failure
CNSA

Yinghuo-1 (YH-1)

The Yinghuo-1 mission was the CNSA's first attempt to send a microsatellite orbiter to the Martian environment. Launched on November 8, 2011, as a secondary payload of the Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, the assembly became stranded in low Earth orbit after the cruise burn failed. The mission formally concluded with its destructive reentry over the Pacific on January 15, 2012.

Orbiter
Completed · full success
NASA

Dawn

NASA's Dawn mission used a gravity assist flyby of Mars in February 2009 to modify its trajectory toward the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. After completing its primary objectives in the main belt, the mission concluded in November 2018 due to propellant exhaustion.

Flyby
Completed · full success
NASA

Phoenix (Mars Phoenix Lander)

Phoenix, launched by NASA in August 2007, was the first mission to successfully land on the arctic polar plains of Mars. It touched down in Vastitas Borealis in May 2008, confirming the presence of subsurface water ice and detecting perchlorates in the regolith during its extended mission before ceasing operations in November 2008.

Lander
Operating in orbit
NASA

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.

Orbiter
Completed · full success
ESA

Rosetta

In February 2007, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission performed a gravity-assist flyby of Mars to modify its trajectory toward comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During the close encounter, the spacecraft analyzed the Martian atmosphere and captured high-resolution images before continuing its journey toward its main destination in deep space.

Flyby
Completed · full success
NASA

Opportunity

Launched on a Delta II Heavy in 2003, Opportunity (MER-B) landed on Meridiani Planum, Mars, in January 2004. Designed for 90 days, it operated for nearly 15 years, traversing 45.16 km (a record). It confirmed past liquid acidic water by discovering hematite and jarosite. A global dust storm in 2018 depleted its batteries, ending the mission in 2019.

Rover
Completed · full success
NASA

Mars Exploration Rover A (Spirit)

Spirit (MER-A) was one of two twin rovers sent by NASA in 2003 to explore the Martian surface. It landed in Gusev crater in January 2004, vastly exceeding its nominal lifespan of 90 sols and confirming a watery past in the region. After becoming immobilized in a sand trap in 2009, the last communication was received in March 2010 and the mission was officially concluded in 2011.

Rover