ESA’s Mars Express Unveils New Atmospheric Data and Plans Extended Mission

In a bold step forward for planetary science, the European Space Agency (ESA) has released a rich dataset from its long-serving Mars Express mission, offering new insights into the Martian atmosphere and reaffirming its commitment to exploring the Red Planet well into the next decade.

The data release includes 71 radio occultation profiles, which are highly valuable for understanding the temperature, pressure, and density of the Martian atmosphere at various altitudes. These profiles were gathered by tracking how radio signals from the spacecraft bend as they pass through the atmosphere — a method that reveals subtle but significant changes in its structure.

The newly released data spans observations taken between October 2022 and April 2023, focusing on the planet’s polar regions and providing seasonal insights. These observations will be especially useful to climate scientists and mission planners preparing for upcoming Mars missions, including those involving human exploration.

In tandem with the data release, ESA announced a major software upgrade for Mars Express. This enhancement dramatically increases the spacecraft’s data handling and communication capacity. The upgrade also introduces new autonomous capabilities, allowing the orbiter to carry out more complex tasks without real-time instructions from Earth.

Mars Express, launched in 2003, has long surpassed its initial mission timeline. Yet, it remains one of ESA’s most valuable assets in orbit around Mars. With this new extension, the mission will now continue through at least 2034, bringing its operational lifetime to over three decades — an extraordinary achievement for an interplanetary mission.

The continued operation of Mars Express is not just symbolic — it plays a critical role in ongoing and future Mars exploration. It provides relay communication support for landers and rovers on the surface, including potential future missions from ESA, NASA, and other space agencies. The orbiter also contributes to monitoring Martian weather and surface changes, crucial for understanding the planet’s long-term evolution.

One of the most exciting aspects of the mission’s extended timeline is the potential to observe rare atmospheric phenomena and surface events over a long temporal baseline. This includes dust storms, seasonal CO₂ ice buildup, and even signs of ancient water flows or volcanic activity.

Updating a 1990s-era satellite felt like digital archaeology—mission operators had to revive Microsoft Windows 3.1, sift through 33-year-old code, and manually calculate the changes before uploading them to the star tracker’s memory.

ESA’s move to publish detailed datasets openly aligns with a growing trend of international scientific collaboration. The 71 newly available radio occultation profiles are expected to be widely used by researchers across the globe, encouraging comparative studies with data from other Mars missions such as NASA’s MAVEN or China’s Tianwen-1.

With the upgraded systems, fresh data, and a green light to operate until 2034, Mars Express continues to live up to its name — delivering fast, accessible science and keeping Europe firmly on the frontline of Martian exploration.