Where is MAVEN right now?

Orbital Radar tracks MAVEN in real time from NASA JPL Horizons ephemeris data, showing its live distance from Earth and the Sun, current speed and one-way signal delay, updated every 60 seconds. Studying how Mars lost its atmosphere — also provides critical relay communications for surface rovers.

How far is MAVEN from Earth?

MAVEN's distance from Earth changes constantly as both bodies move through the solar system. The live figure — in kilometres and astronomical units (AU), with the matching light-travel (signal) time — is shown at the top of this page and refreshes automatically.

LIVE — JPL HORIZONS

💨 MAVEN

Studying how Mars lost its atmosphere — also provides critical relay communications for surface rovers.

🏢 NASA·🎯 Mars Orbit·📅 Launched 2013-11-18·⚡ Active

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    —days
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    —s in space
  

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Where Did Mars's Atmosphere Go?

MAVEN discovered that the solar wind strips roughly 100 grams of atmosphere per second from Mars, and the rate increases dramatically during solar storms. Over billions of years, this process removed most of Mars's once-thick atmosphere — turning a potentially habitable world into the cold desert it is today.

Dual Role

While primarily atmospheric science, MAVEN also serves as a critical relay for Curiosity and Perseverance, handling a significant fraction of their data return.