NASA Loses Contact with Spacecraft That's Been Orbiting Mars for Over a Decade

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NASA Loses Contact with Spacecraft That's Been Orbiting Mars for Over a Decade
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) was first launched in November 2013
Charna Flam
Thu, December 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM EST
2 min read



NASA/GSFC
This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars.


NEED TO KNOW
*NASA announced that the agency lost contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft on Dec. 6

*MAVEN was first launched into space in November 2013

*The spacecraft is used to explore how Mars' upper atmosphere and ionosphere interact with the Sun and the solar wind


NASA announced that they have lost contact with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft.

The spacecraft was launched in November 2013 and began orbiting Mars in September 2014. However, NASA announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that they lost contact on Dec. 6.

"Telemetry from MAVEN had showed all subsystems working normally before it orbited behind the Red Planet," they wrote. However, once it reemerged, the signal was gone.

The agency said their spacecraft and operations teams are investigating and will provide more information as soon as they're able to.



NASA/GSFC This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars.


This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars.
For the last 11 years, the spacecraft has explored how Mars' upper atmosphere and ionosphere interact with the Sun and the solar wind to examine the loss of the Martian atmosphere into space, according to NASA.

The agency said the spacecraft has helped facilitate insight into Mars' atmospheric loss, as well as its atmosphere, climate, liquid water and planetary habitability.

MAVEN has also served as "a communications relay station for rovers on the Martian surface," NASA said.

Additionally, it's linked to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, according to Space.com.

The Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005, with the mission to "search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for long periods of time," according to NASA. More recently, in 2023, the spacecraft captured photos of Mars' craters.

The Mars Odyssey launched four years prior, in 2001, and serves as the longest active mission in orbit. The spacecraft was designed to study "clouds, fog and frost, and mapping surface rocks to make future Mars landings safer," according to NASA.

The Mars Express, which is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, was launched into orbit in 2003, and according to NASA, has been "exploring the atmosphere and surface of Mars from polar orbit."

Meanwhile, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a joint mission of Russia's Federal Space Agency and ESA, "studies the Martian atmosphere for the presence of methane and other gases that may be present in small concentrations," according to NASA.

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