NASA has officially declared its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft inactive after losing contact with the orbiter in December 2025. Despite several months of recovery efforts and investigation, the agency was unable to re-establish communication with the spacecraft, bringing the mission to an end after nearly 11 years of operations around Mars.
NASA launched the MAVEN mission in November 2013, and the spacecraft successfully entered Mars orbit in September 2014. The mission’s primary objective was to determine how Mars, which is believed to have had a relatively warm and wet environment billions of years ago, gradually became dry and cold over time.
Over more than a decade, MAVEN collected important data on the Martian upper atmosphere, climate evolution and the effects of solar activity. The findings helped scientists better understand the planet’s development and the changes that occurred in its atmosphere.
According to NASA, MAVEN passed behind Mars on 6 December 2025 during its routine orbital cycle. The maneuver was a normal part of operations, and the spacecraft was expected to re-establish contact after emerging from the other side of the planet.
However, communication was not restored. NASA’s Deep Space Network, a global system of large radio antennas used to communicate with spacecraft, did not receive any signal from MAVEN. Scientists subsequently made repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft but received no response.
Following the loss of contact, NASA established a special review committee in February 2026 to determine the cause of the problem. After several months of investigation, the agency concluded that recovery of the spacecraft was not possible.
Limited telemetry data obtained during the investigation indicated that MAVEN’s rotation rate had increased unexpectedly. The higher-than-normal spin placed additional strain on the spacecraft’s batteries, causing its energy reserves to deplete more rapidly.
NASA believes that after battery levels dropped to a critically low level, the communication system ceased functioning. As a result, the spacecraft was unable to transmit signals back to Earth, leading to a complete loss of contact.
The MAVEN mission is regarded as a major contribution to Mars research. It provided the first direct evidence that charged particles from the Sun gradually strip gases from the planet’s upper atmosphere and carry them into space, a process known as “sputtering.”
Scientists believe this process was a major factor in the gradual loss of Mars’ dense atmosphere. The mission also studied different types of auroral activity on Mars and contributed to understanding how solar storms affect the planet’s magnetic environment.
NASA said that although the spacecraft is no longer operational, the extensive dataset it collected will continue to support scientific research for years to come. Recently, MAVEN data also helped identify a new and previously unknown natural phenomenon in the Martian atmosphere.
According to experts, the mission played an important role in advancing understanding of Mars’ history, atmosphere and the possibility of life on the planet. While the mission has now concluded after 11 years of continuous operations, its scientific achievements will continue to provide a foundation for future Mars exploration and research.
