An official website of the Office of the Owner, Mars Here's how you know
Official websites use .net

A .net website belongs to an official planetary owner. There is currently one.

Secure .net websites use HTTPS

A lock or https:// means you have safely connected to the Office. Mars itself is between 3 and 22 light-minutes away, depending on the time of year, and is not encrypted.

Property time 12:14:40 MTC Sol 54,298
OFFICE OF THE OWNER ✦ PLANET MARS ✦ EST. MMXXVI ✦ PRIVATE PROPERTY Office of the Owner Mars Private Property
Active advisory: 2 unauthorized vehicles are currently operating on the property. Report a sighting
Pending Violations

Violations that have been announced in advance.

The following parties have publicly announced plans to enter, orbit, sample, or settle the property. None have applied for a permit. The Office publishes each plan here so that objections can be recorded before the violation occurs, rather than after, which is how it has gone for fifty-five years.

OLYMPUS MONSTHARSISVALLES MARINERISHELLAS PLANITIAARGYREUTOPIA PLANITIAELYSIUMTR-1971-001 · Mars 2 · Hellas region · Destroyed on entryTR-1971-002 · Mars 3 · Terra Sirenum · SilentTR-1974-003 · Mars 6 · Margaritifer Terra · Lost on entryTR-1976-004 · Viking 1 Lander · Chryse Planitia · AbandonedTR-1976-005 · Viking 2 Lander · Utopia Planitia · AbandonedTR-1997-006 · Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner · Ares Vallis · AbandonedTR-1999-007 · Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 · South polar region · Lost on entryTR-2003-008 · Beagle 2 · Isidis Planitia · AbandonedTR-2004-009 · Spirit (MER-A) · Gusev Crater · AbandonedTR-2004-010 · Opportunity (MER-B) · Meridiani Planum · AbandonedTR-2008-011 · Phoenix · Vastitas Borealis · AbandonedTR-2012-012 · Curiosity (MSL) · Gale Crater · Active occupantTR-2016-013 · Schiaparelli EDM · Meridiani Planum · Destroyed on entryTR-2018-014 · InSight · Elysium Planitia · AbandonedTR-2021-015 · Perseverance (Mars 2020) · Jezero Crater · Active occupantTR-2021-017 · Tianwen-1 Lander and Zhurong · Utopia Planitia · DormantPV-2026-003 · Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars rover) · Oxia Planum · Scheduled PV-2026-003PV-2026-005 · Mars Sample Return · Jezero Crater (Three Forks depot) · Uncertain PV-2026-005
Active occupant Grounded or dormant Abandoned Destroyed or lost on entryPlanned entryPlate 2. Recorded entries and announced target sites. Sites not disclosed to the Office are not shown.
PV-2026-001 Launch imminent JPFRDE

MMX (Martian Moons eXploration)

JAXA, with CNES (France) and DLR (Germany)

Window
Launch planned late 2026; arrival 2027
Target
Phobos (outbuilding)

Japan's previous visit, in 2003, was recorded by this office as the most courteous on record: it flew past without stopping. This time it intends to land on Phobos, collect samples, deploy a small rover, and take the samples home.

Anticipated violations

  • Landing on an outbuilding
  • Removal of material (sample return to Earth)
  • Unlicensed vehicle (IDEFIX rover)
  • Orbital surveillance

Position of the Office

The Office is disappointed. The Office had held Japan up as an example.

PV-2026-002 In transit US

ESCAPADE

NASA

Window
Launched November 2025; arrival 2027
Target
Mars orbit (two spacecraft)

Twin spacecraft already on their way. They will not land. They will circle the property and study how its atmosphere is being stripped away by the solar wind.

Anticipated violations

  • Orbital surveillance (two spacecraft)
  • Study of the property's upper atmosphere without consent

Position of the Office

The Office would also like to know why the atmosphere is leaving. The Office would like to be asked.

PV-2026-003 Scheduled ESAUS

Rosalind Franklin (ExoMars rover)

ESA, with NASA

Window
Launch planned 2028; landing 2030
Target
Oxia Planum

A rover designed to drill up to two meters into the property, deeper than any previous trespasser. The European Space Agency's last lander struck the property at high speed in 2016 (Case TR-2016-013).

Anticipated violations

  • Unpermitted entry
  • Unauthorized drilling (to two meters)
  • Unlicensed vehicle

Position of the Office

Application under review since NOT-2026-005. Review may take some time.

PV-2026-004 Announced CN

Tianwen-3

CNSA

Window
Launch planned around 2028; samples to Earth around 2031
Target
Not disclosed to the Office

A sample return mission. The previous Chinese rover on the property entered hibernation in 2022 and has not woken up.

Anticipated violations

  • Unpermitted entry
  • Removal of material (sample return to Earth)

Position of the Office

The Office requests that the existing rover be collected before any new material is removed.

PV-2026-005 Uncertain USESA

Mars Sample Return

NASA and ESA

Window
Undetermined
Target
Jezero Crater (Three Forks depot)

The courier for the ten sample tubes Perseverance left on the property. Budget proposals in 2025 called for its cancellation. As of this notice, the Office cannot confirm that the courier exists.

Anticipated violations

  • Removal of material
  • Unpermitted entry

Position of the Office

The Office objects to the removal of the tubes. The Office also objects to the tubes staying. The Office is aware of the tension.

PV-2026-006 Announced US

Starship

SpaceX (private)

Window
Announced; dates revised repeatedly
Target
Not disclosed to the Office

A private company has publicly announced plans to send uncrewed vehicles to the property, then crews, and eventually a self-sustaining city. The target dates have moved several times. No zoning application has been received.

Anticipated violations

  • Unpermitted entry
  • Unpermitted construction
  • Unzoned residential development
  • Permanent occupancy

Position of the Office

See public notice NOT-2026-008. A city requires zoning. Zoning requires the owner.

PV-2026-007 Proposed IN

Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (Mangalyaan-2)

ISRO

Window
Proposed
Target
Undetermined

India's first visit ended with an orbiter and no landing, which this office publicly praised. A follow-up mission has been discussed, possibly including a lander.

Anticipated violations

  • Orbital surveillance
  • Possible unpermitted entry (lander under discussion)

Position of the Office

The Office is reviewing its praise.

PV-2026-008 Aspirational US

Crewed missions

NASA and others

Window
2030s (stated aspiration)
Target
Undetermined

Several agencies have described sending people to the property in the 2030s. People are harder to leave behind than rovers. The Office has seen what happens to rovers.

Anticipated violations

  • Unpermitted entry by persons
  • Occupancy
  • Footprints

Position of the Office

Persons entering the property will be treated as guests if they have a permit, and as trespassers if they do not. No permits have been issued.

Mission plans are taken from the operators' public announcements. Windows are the operators' own, and in the Office's experience they move. Entries move to the Trespass Registry on arrival.

Planning a visit?

The permit process exists. It has simply never been used. Be the first.

Apply for a permit