United Launch AllianceAtlas V 541Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter)
Launched
July 30, 2020
Image: United Launch Alliance
Summary
Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) launched on an United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA on July 30, 2020. It was United Launch Alliance's 141st launch, 4th this year and humanity's 5,980th orbital launch attempt. It was the 7th Atlas V 541 flight and the 1st this year. The payload was bound for Heliocentric N/A (Helio-N/A). Perseverance, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 26,772 × 27,206 km orbit inclined 32.2°. 2 objects from this launch are catalogued, one of them a payload.
- Watch
- Atlas V Mars 2020 Launch HighlightsUnited Launch Alliance
- Watch NASA's Perseverance Rover Launch to Mars!NASA
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Robotic Exploration · Heliocentric N/A (Helio-N/A)
- Milestone
- 7th Atlas V 541 flight · 1st this yearUnited Launch Alliance's 141st launch4th this yearhumanity's 5,980th orbital launch attempt58th orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
Perseverance · NORAD 45983 · 2020-052 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 2 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2020-052A
- Epoch
- 2020-07-30 13:39:26 UTC
- Mean motion
- 1.42484766 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.0065
- Inclination
- 32.2087°
- Ascending node
- 317.6209°
- Arg. of perigee
- 265.1078°
- Mean anomaly
- 118.6367°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 1
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: Helio-N/A. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.
Catalogued objects
2 catalogued: 1 payload, 1 rocket stage
- Perseverance · NORAD 45983 · left Earth orbit July 30, 2020
Centaur AV-088 · left Earth orbit July 30, 2020
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Atop this ULA Atlas V rocket will be Perseverance, a car-sized rover which will explore an ancient river delta on Mars. Armed with a suite of six scientific instruments, Perseverance will primarily hunt for clues to the planet's distant past, and hopefully uncover signs of ancient life and habitability. The rover also carries an experiment that'll convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, a box-sized helicopter named Ingenuity that'll demonstrate powered flight on Mars, and a system that enables the rover to leave behind samples for later retrieval and return to Earth during NASA and ESA's ambitious sample return mission later this decade.
Related page: Atlas V Perseverance- United Launch Alliance (ULA) Rocket Launch
News
NASA’s Record-Setting Perseverance Rover TeamDescription Members of NASA’s Perseverance Mars mission team gather in the Mars Yard at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California with a certificate from Guinness World Records marking the rover distance record on the Red Planet. Positioned in front of the team is OPTIMISM (Operational Perseverance Twin for Integration of Mechanisms and Instruments […]
Perseverance Navcam Image Marks Record DriveDescription Rover tracks and a rocky Martian landscape are shown in this image captured by one of the navigation cameras (navcams) aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Oct. 11, 2026, the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. During that sol’s drive, spanning 299.6 feet (91.31 meters), the mission passed a major milestone: pushing Perseverance’s total […]
A Journey to the Depths of Ancient Mars?Written by Alex Jones, Ph.D. candidate at Imperial College London Sept. 29, 2026 After spending the last six months exploring “Lac de Charmes,” a region of ancient rock beyond Jezero crater’s western rim, Perseverance has stumbled upon a vast field of light-toned rocks peppering the Martian surface. Light-colored rocks are a strange sight on Mars, […]
Mars Has Its CharmesWritten by Athanasios (Thanos) Klidaras, Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University Sept. 21, 2026 After a long hiatus, the Perseverance rover updates page is back. A lot has happened on Mars in the meantime, and with regular updates now resuming, there is plenty to catch up on — Perseverance has been busy. The rover has spent […]
Perseverance’s View of ‘Turquoise Bay’Description NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of “Turquoise Bay,” a geologic area of interest in the “Margin Unit.” The 818 images used to create the natural-color panorama were captured between Oct. 5 and Oct. 16, 2023, the 933rd to 944th Martian days, or sols, of the mission. […]
NASA Discovery Reveals Complex Water Systems on Early MarsWhen NASA’s Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were surprised by what they found. Called the “Margin Unit,” the geologic area stretches along the shoreline of an ancient Martian lake, so they expected sedimentary rocks, which would have formed as layers of sand piled on top […]
Perseverance Captures Another Phobos TransitDescription NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture the silhouette of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as it crossed in front of the Sun on Aug. 12, 2026, the 1,948th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The animation has been tinted to simulate what a human would see if […]
NASA’s Perseverance Captures Phobos and EarthDescription This composite of seven images from the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shows Earth, visible as a small bright dot moving from upper left to lower right, passing behind the Martian moon Phobos on July 2, 2026, 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The black background is the result of […]
Pad
Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
98th launch from Space Launch Complex 41, 4th this year · 803rd from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
125 launches from this pad · 1,131 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
73 days after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) launch?
Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) launched on July 30, 2020. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter)?
Coverage: Atlas V Mars 2020 Launch Highlights; Watch NASA's Perseverance Rover Launch to Mars!. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter)?
Atlas V 541, flown by United Launch Alliance. Atlas V 541 spec sheet
Where did Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) launch from?
Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.
What orbit did Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) reach?
Perseverance, one of 2 catalogued objects, reached a 26,772 × 27,206 km orbit inclined 32.2°.
How many satellites did Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) launch?
1 payload from this launch is catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).
Which program is Mars 2020 (Perseverance rover & Ingenuity helicopter) part of?
NASA Large Strategic Science Missions. About NASA Large Strategic Science Missions