Launched in 2003 aboard a Soyuz-Fregat, Mars Express is ESA's first planetary mission. The orbiter achieved a successful insertion and has operated for over two decades. It has revolutionized our understanding of Mars by confirming subsurface water ice, detecting methane, and mapping hydrated minerals that prove a habitable past.

Orbiter 2 JUN 2003

Failed · landing failure

ESA

Beagle 2

Beagle 2, an ambitious British lander launched in 2003 alongside Mars Express, aimed to search for chemical traces of life in Isidis Planitia. After landing on Christmas Day, complete silence followed. In 2015, orbital images revealed its cruel fate: it landed intact, but its solar panels failed to fully deploy, trapping its radio antenna and condemning the probe to eternal isolation.

Lander 2 JUN 2003

Operating · extended mission

NASA

2001 Mars Odyssey

The 2001 Mars Odyssey mission (NASA) is a Mars orbiter designed to map the elemental and mineralogical composition of the surface, search for water ice, and act as a communications relay. Launched in April 2001, it confirmed the presence of vast underground ice deposits and remains active after multiple extensions.

Orbiter 7 APR 2001

Failed · landing failure

NASA

Deep Space 2 (DS2)

Deep Space 2 (DS2), known as the Mars Microprobe Project, consisted of two innovative impact penetrator probes ("Scott" and "Amundsen") launched by NASA to study the Martian subsurface. Following their arrival on December 3, 1999, communication could not be established, and the mission was officially declared a failure on March 13, 2000.

Lander 3 JAN 1999

Failed · orbital failure

NASA

Mars Climate Orbiter (Mars Surveyor '98 Orbiter)

NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter was an orbiter designed to study the climate and atmosphere of Mars and act as a communications relay. The mission failed on September 23, 1999, during orbital insertion due to a navigation error caused by a discrepancy in metric and imperial units, leading to its destruction in the Martian atmosphere.

Orbiter 11 DEC 1998

Failed · orbital failure

JAXA

Nozomi (PLANET-B)

Nozomi (PLANET-B), launched on July 3, 1998, by ISAS (predecessor of JAXA), was Japan's first interplanetary mission aimed at studying Mars' upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. After suffering severe setbacks during gravity assists and solar flares in its prolonged cruise, the spacecraft was unable to perform the orbit insertion, completing a distant flyby before formally ending its mission on December 31, 2003, in heliocentric orbit.

Orbiter 3 JUL 1998

Completed · full success

NASA

Mars Pathfinder

Launched in 1996, Mars Pathfinder was the first completed mission under NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" philosophy. It pioneered the use of an airbag landing system and successfully deployed the first rover on Mars, Sojourner. The mission landed in Ares Vallis, returned over 17,000 images, and performed in-situ chemical analysis of rocks and soil, far exceeding its expected operational lifespan.

Lander 4 DEC 1996

Completed · full success

NASA

Sojourner

The Mars Pathfinder mission (1996) was a milestone that validated airbag landing systems and deployed the first mobile vehicle on Mars, the Sojourner. Designed to last 7 sols, the 10.6 kg rover operated for 83 sols, analyzing rock chemical composition with its APXS spectrometer and capturing 550 images. The mission confirmed a watery past in Ares Vallis and demonstrated the success of NASA's low-cost philosophy.

Rover 4 DEC 1996

Failed · launch failure

Roscosmos

Mars 96 (Mars-8)

Roscosmos's ambitious Mars 96 mission, designed to study Mars's evolution and physics through an orbiter, two surface stations, and two penetrators, failed a few hours after launch due to a restart failure of the Proton-K rocket's fourth upper stage.

Orbiter 16 NOV 1996

Completed · full success

NASA

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), launched by NASA in November 1996, was a pioneering orbital mission that revolutionized our understanding of Mars. After a long aerobraking phase, it globally mapped the surface, studied mineralogy, analyzed the remnant magnetic field, and demonstrated the past presence of abundant liquid water.

Orbiter 7 NOV 1996

Failed · contact lost before meeting objectives

NASA

Mars Observer

Mars Observer (1992) was an ambitious NASA orbiter designed to conduct a global study of Mars' mineralogy, atmosphere, and magnetic field. After a successful interplanetary cruise phase of nearly a year, the spacecraft suddenly went silent on August 21, 1993, three days before orbital insertion, due to a catastrophic failure in its propulsion system.

Orbiter 25 SEP 1992

Failed · contact lost before meeting objectives

Roscosmos

Phobos 2

Phobos 2 was a Soviet orbiter launched in July 1988 with the objective of studying the interplanetary environment, Mars, and the satellite Phobos, incorporating plans to deploy landers. After reaching Martian orbit in late January 1989, the mission gathered valuable scientific data and detailed images until contact was lost on March 27, 1989 due to a critical failure.

Orbiter 12 JUL 1988

Chronology of Mars exploration

Initiate Telemetry