NASA Resumes Efforts to Reestablish Contact With MAVEN
NASA is continuing attempts to regain communication with its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which has been silent since December 6, 2025. The agency began renewed efforts on January 26, 2026, as Mars emerged from solar conjunction – a period when communication with Martian missions is temporarily blocked due to the alignment of Earth and Mars on opposite sides of the Sun.
Utilizing both NASA’s Deep Space Network and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory, the MAVEN team is actively working to re-establish a signal. This mission, designed to study the Martian atmosphere and its evolution, represents a key component of understanding the planet’s climate history and the potential for past or present habitability.
In addition to the ongoing communication attempts, engineers are analyzing data recovered from a radio science campaign conducted on December 6. This analysis aims to construct a timeline of events and pinpoint the underlying cause of the communication loss. NASA has also announced the formation of a formal anomaly review board to thoroughly investigate the available data.
Launched on November 18, 2013, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard an Atlas V rocket, MAVEN entered orbit around Mars on September 22, 2014. The spacecraft has a planned mission duration of two years, but has been operating for over 12 years, 18 days as of this report. The mission’s instruments include STATIC, IUVS, NGIMS, SWEA, LPW, SWIA, SEP and MAG, all contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the Martian atmosphere.
The MAVEN spacecraft has a launch mass of 2,454 kg and a dry mass of 809 kg, carrying a 65 kg payload. Its orbital parameters include a periapsis altitude of 180 km and an apoapsis altitude of 4,500 km, with an inclination of 75 degrees and a period of 3.6 hours. The mission is scheduled to conclude in 2025.
