ESA title

The mission

Since beginning science operations in 2004, Mars Express has provided breathtaking views of Mars in three dimensions. It has provided the most complete map of the chemical composition of the atmosphere, studied Mars’s innermost moon Phobos in unprecedented detail, and traced the history of water across the globe, demonstrating that Mars once harboured environmental conditions that may have been suitable for life.

 

  • Launch date: 2 June 2003
  • Arrival at Mars: December 2003
  • Status: In operation
  • Targets: Mars' atmosphere, surface and subsurface; Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos
Mars Express

Latest

Coronal mass ejection on 27 May 2024
Science & Exploration

ESA’s Mars orbiters watch solar superstorm hit the Red Plan…

05/03/2026 4619 views 59 likes
Read
Counting craters in Mars’s ancient highlands
Science & Exploration

Counting craters

04/03/2026 2525 views 44 likes
Read
Overhead perspective of Flaugergues Crater
Science & Exploration

Explore Mars’s Flaugergues Crater

04/02/2026 3132 views 80 likes
Read
Mars Express sees sandblasted wind sculptures near Eumenides Dorsum
Science & Exploration

Sandblasting on Mars

07/01/2026 3895 views 65 likes
Read
Bird’s-eye view: the butterflies and dark layers of Idaeus Fossae
Science & Exploration

A martian butterfly flaps its wings

03/12/2025 9810 views 83 likes
Read

More items

  • Science & Exploration

    Global Mars in colour

    23/05/2023 23506 views 473 likes
    Open item
    Mars Express images combined to produce global Mars in colour
  • Science & Exploration

    Ius and Tithonium Chasmata on Mars

    20/07/2022 5563 views 82 likes
    Open item
  • Science & Exploration

    Utopia Planitia on Mars

    30/03/2022 6612 views 99 likes
    Open item
    Utopia Planitia on Mars
  • Science & Exploration

    Perspective view along icy layered ridge

    22/12/2022 2143 views 50 likes
    Open item
    Perspective view along icy layered ridge
  • Science & Exploration

    Fly over Xanthe Terra with Mars Express

    02/10/2025 7691 views 180 likes
    Open item

Mars Express overview