Launched on June 2, 2003, Mars Express was the first European mission to explore another planet. It was named "Express" because it was built and launched in record time and at a lower cost than previous missions.

Space for Kids - Mars Express takes amazing photo of the Red Planet! 8 Jun 2018 —

The mission architecture of Mars Express emerged directly from a major spaceflight crisis. In November 1996, the complex Russian Mars 96 spacecraft suffered a catastrophic launcher propulsion failure shortly after liftoff. The failure destroyed several cutting-edge, European-built scientific instruments.