Editing Exploration of Mars (section)

==Launch windows==
[[File:Mars distance from Earth.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Spacecraft launches and Mars distance from Earth in millions of kilometers]]
The minimum-energy [[launch window]]s for a Martian expedition occur at intervals of approximately two years and two months (specifically 780 days, the planet's [[synodic period]] with respect to Earth).<ref name="portree2001">
{{Cite book | last1 = Porter | first1 = David S. F.  | title = Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning, 1950–2000 | publisher = NASA History Division | location = Washington D.C. | series =  NASA Monographs in Aerospace History Series, No. 21 — NASA SP-2001-4521 | date =  February 2001 | pages = 3, 4| url = https://history.nasa.gov/monograph21/humans_to_Mars.htm  | access-date = 30 October 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190714112149/https://history.nasa.gov/monograph21/humans_to_Mars.htm | archive-date = 14 July 2019 | url-status = live}}</ref> In addition, the lowest available transfer energy varies on a roughly 16-year cycle.<ref name="portree2001"/> For example, a minimum occurred in the 1969 and 1971 launch windows, rising to a peak in the late 1970s, and hitting another low in 1986 and 1988.<ref name="portree2001"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Launch opportunities<ref>{{cite web |last=McCleese |first=D. |display-authors=et al. |title=Robotic Mars Exploration Strategy |url=http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/3715_Mars_Expl_Strat_GPO.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123200835/http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/3715_Mars_Expl_Strat_GPO.pdf |archive-date=23 January 2017 |access-date=9 February 2017 |website=nasa.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Launch-windows-to-Mars-between-2015-and-2025-The-blue-line-shows-the-sum-of-hyperbolic_fig1_308274666 |title=Launch windows to Mars between 2015 and 2025. The blue line shows the... {{!}} Download Scientific Diagram<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2021-10-26 |archive-date=2021-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026082900/https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Launch-windows-to-Mars-between-2015-and-2025-The-blue-line-shows-the-sum-of-hyperbolic_fig1_308274666 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=a-alzayani |date=2019-11-08 |title=Mars Launch Windows (2020-2030) |url=http://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/dtm5bc/mars_launch_windows_20202030/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=r/SpaceXLounge}}</ref>
! Year
! Window 
! Spacecraft (launched or planned)
|-
| 2013 || Nov || [[MAVEN]], [[Mars Orbiter Mission]]
|-
| 2016 || Mar || [[ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter|ExoMars TGO]]
|- 
| 2018 || May || ''[[InSight]]''
|-
| 2020 || Jul–Sep ||(1) [[Mars Hope]] orbiter<br/>(2) [[Tianwen-1]] orbiter, deployable and remote camera, lander and [[Zhurong (rover)|''Zhurong'' rover]]<br/>(3) [[Mars 2020]] [[Perseverance (rover)|''Perseverance'' rover]] and [[Ingenuity (helicopter)|''Ingenuity'' helicopter]]
|-
| 2022 || Aug–Nov || N/A
|-
| 2024 || Oct–Nov || N/A
|-
|2026
|Nov–Dec
|(1) [[Martian Moons eXploration]] (MMX)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=2024-01-11 |title=Japanese Mars mission launch delayed to 2026 |url=https://spacenews.com/japanese-mars-mission-launch-delayed-to-2026/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref>
(2) Impulse/[[Relativity Space|Relativity]] Mars lander<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=2023-05-24 |title=Impulse and Relativity target 2026 for launch of first Mars lander mission |url=https://spacenews.com/impulse-and-relativity-target-2026-for-launch-of-first-mars-lander-mission/ |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref>
|-
|2028/29
|Dec–Jan
| (1) ''[[Rosalind Franklin (rover)|Rosalind Franklin]]''<br/>(2) [[Mars Orbiter Mission 2]]
|-
|2031
|Feb-Apr
|N/A
|-
|2033
|Apr-May
|N/A
|-
|2035
|May-Jul
|N/A
|-
|2037
|Jul-Sept
|N/A
|-
|2039
|Sep-Oct
|N/A
|-
|2041/42
|Oct-Dec
|N/A
|-
|2043/44
|Dec-Jan
|N/A
|-
|2046
|Jan-Mar
|N/A
|}
{{clear}}