Mars Express in 3D: live position and trajectory

Launched in 2003 and in orbit around Mars since December 2003, to observe its surface and atmosphere. Its lander, Beagle 2, was lost.

The real position of Mars Express is shown, from the trajectory computed by NASA JPL Horizons. The view opens on Mars Express; you can travel in time, follow its route and compare it with the planets.

Mass

1,223 kg¹

Launch date

June 2, 2003¹

Launch vehicle

Soyuz-Fregat¹

Launch site

Baikonur, Kazakhstan¹

Trajectory: JPL Horizons, precomputed from June 3, 2003 to December 31, 2032.

Instruments

• Mars Express Orbiter Analyzer of Space Plasma and Energetic Atoms (3rd Version)
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.aspera-3
• Mars Express Orbiter High Resolution Stereo Camera
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.hrsc
• Mars Express Orbiter Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.marsis
• Mars Express Orbiter Observatoire Mineralogie, Eau, Glaces, Activite
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.omega
• Mars Express Orbiter Planetary Fourier Spectrometer
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.pfs
• Mars Express Orbiter Radio Science
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.mrs
• Mars Express Orbiter SPectroscopie pour l’Investigation des Caractéristiques Atmosphériques de Mars
  urn:esa:psa:context:instrument:mex.spicam

Investigations it appears in

• Mars Express

What the PDS archive declares this spacecraft carries, read on October 23, 2026. Each name is the one the archive publishes, and the identifier below it is its citation.

Orbit insertions

• December 25, 2003: Mars

Sources

1. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Horizons System (target object data). read 2026-10-09. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/