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Launch detail
Lockheed Martin • Atlas V 401 • Space Launch Complex 41 (FL)
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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.
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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.

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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.
An Atlas V with a 4 meter diameter fairing, no boosters and a single centaur upper stage engine.
Lockheed Martin's Space Division started in the production of missiles and later ICBM's in the 1950s. Their TITAN missile system was used for 12 Gemini spacecraft and the Voyager probes. They have worked largely in collaboration with NASA on many of their probes, landers, and spacecraft, and hope to play a key role in NASA's return to the moon in 2024.
367b57094375064b271576a416476b21629cef75e392ec62b86c26b890f2e846Linked via Spaceflight News API (SNAPI).
ArticleDescription NASA’s Perseverance rover appears as a green speck on the Martian surface on June 13, 2026, a day before the robotic explorer marked a distance m...
ArticleNASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captures a detailed view of a relatively fresh crater in this image released on June 3, 2015. The crater has a sharp...
Article"We think that’s a really important mission, and something that we can do."
ArticleLos 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...
ArticleMesas 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...
ArticlePasadena 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 space...
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