Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Overview

Destination: Mars Orbit
Mission: Planetary Science

Mars Orbit Space Launch Complex 41 Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005 and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. In November 2006, after five months of aerobraking, it entered its final science orbit and began its primary science phase.

Atlas V 401

Family:
Configuration: 401

An Atlas V with a 4 meter diameter fairing, no boosters and a single centaur upper stage engine.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    58.3 m
  • Diameter
    3.8 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    4.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    590.0 T
  • Thrust
    3827.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Atlas V 401
  • Family
  • Variant
    401
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Atlas V 401
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $115000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    9050.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    4950.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    6670.0 kg

United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance

(ULA)

Interim CEO: John Elbon Founded: 2006 Successes: 170 Failures: 0 Pending: 41

Agency Type:

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.

INFO WIKI

Related News

SpaceDaily

HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes 100000 image milestone

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2025 After nearly two decades in orbit around Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has logged the 100,000th image of the planet's surface with its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRI…

NASA

One of NASA’s Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image

Mesas and dunes stand out in the view snapped by HiRISE, one of the imagers aboard the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. After nearly 20 years at the Red Planet, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has snapped its 100,000th image …

NASA

NASA Orbiter Shines New Light on Long-Running Martian Mystery

Results from an enhanced radar technique have demonstrated improvement to sub-surface observations of Mars.  NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has revisited and raised new questions about a mysterious feature buried beneath thousand…

SpaceDaily

NASA Orbiter Shines New Light on Long-Running Martian Mystery

Pasadena, Calif. (SPX) Nov 26, 2025 Results from an enhanced radar technique have demonstrated improvement to subsurface observations of Mars. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has revisited and raised new questions about a…

SpaceDaily

NASA's Mars Spacecraft Capture Images of Comet 3I/ATLAS

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 21, 2025 Two orbiters and a rover captured images of the interstellar object - from the closest location any of the agency's spacecraft may get - that could reveal new details. At the start of October, three …

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Space Launch Complex 41


Long March 3B/E
Success
1 day, 19 hours ago
Fengyun-4C
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

China's geostationary meteorological satellite program FY-4 (Feng Yun 4) is the second generation of chinese geostationary meteorological satellites.


Long March 8A
Success
2 days, 12 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 17
Commercial LC-1 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1a
Success
2 days, 21 hours ago
Obzor-R No.1
43/4 (43R) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Assignment of payloads to this launch is uncertain. The Russian Obzor-R satellite is a planned X-band radar earth observation satellite desi…


LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
Success
4 days, 8 hours ago
BlueBird Block 2 #1
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites are designed to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the BlueBird Block 1 satellites, requi…


Long March 12A
Success
5 days, 9 hours ago
Demo Flight
Long March 12A Pad - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First test launch of CASC/SAST’s Long March 12A rocket, with a dummy payload. The rocket’s 1st stage attempted to land on a landing pad about 300 km …


HANBIT-Nano
Failure
5 days, 10 hours ago
Spaceward
HANBIT Pad - Alcântara Space Center, Federative Republic of Brazil

Maiden orbital launch attempt for the South Korean start-up Innospace and its HANBIT-Nano small launch vehicle. Onboard this flight are five small sa…


H3-22
Failure
6 days, 10 hours ago
Michibiki 5 (QZS-5)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

QZSS (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) is a Japanese satellite navigation system operating from inclined, elliptical geosynchronous orbits to achieve o…


Electron
Success
1 week ago
The Wisdom God Guides (iQPS Launch 6)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


New Shepard
Success
1 week ago
NS-37
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USA

NS-37 is the 16th crewed flight for the New Shepard program and the 37th in the New Shepard program's history.


Long March 5
Success
1 week ago
TJSW-23
101 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.