Filed under
launch
5 milestones, in chronological order.
- October 1960 – March 1963First Contact
Five Soviet probes try for Mars and all five fail
Between 1960 and 1962 the Soviet Union launched five probes at Mars. Four never escaped Earth; the fifth, Mars 1, fell silent 106 million kilometres out.
- 13 November 2025The Present Push
Two small orbiters end a five-year launch drought
Nothing had left Earth for Mars since July 2020. ESCAPADE's twin orbiters broke the drought — then parked at a Lagrange point to wait a year for the transfer window.
- 2023 – 2026The Present Push
Thirteen Starship flights, and Mars slips to 2028
SpaceX has flown Starship thirteen times since April 2023. None has reached orbit, none has transferred propellant in space, and the 2026 Mars window has been given up.
- October 2028 launch, landing in 2030The Road AheadPlanned
Rosalind Franklin finally gets a ride
Europe's drilling rover has missed three launch windows and lost its Russian lander. It now flies in October 2028 on an American rocket, for Oxia Planum in 2030.
- No earlier than the 2028–29 windowThe Road AheadPlanned
Starship meets the one-tonne landing ceiling
Nothing heavier than Perseverance's 1,025 kg has ever been set down on Mars. Starship proposes roughly a hundred tonnes, and it has not yet reached orbit.