Launch index
Launch Successful

Delta II | Opportunity Rover

July 8, 2003 at 3:18 AM UTC

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Delta II | Opportunity Rover launch image
Mission imagery · Delta II 7925H-9.5

Launch details

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T−00d00h00m00s

July 8, 2003 at 3:18 AM UTC

Status: Launch Successful · Live feed refreshes every 30 seconds

Space Launch Complex 17B

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA · 28.4458, -80.5657

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Launch site
Space Launch Complex 17B

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Launch probability
Not published
Window opens
July 8, 2003 at 3:18 AM UTC
Window closes
July 8, 2003 at 3:18 AM UTC
Feed updated
July 8, 2025 at 12:57 PM UTC

Mission description

Opportunity, also known as MER-B or MER-1, and nicknamed "Oppy", is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until the middle of 2018. Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5111 sols after landing, maintaining its power and key systems through continual recharging of its batteries using solar power, and hibernating during events such as dust storms to save power. Due to the planetary 2018 dust storm on Mars, Opportunity ceased communications on June 10 and entered hibernation on June 12, 2018. It was hoped it would reboot once the weather cleared, but it did not, suggesting either a catastrophic failure or that a layer of dust had covered its solar panels.

Mission media

Watch the launch.

Watch NASA's Opportunity Rover Launch to Mars

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Vehicle

Delta II 7925H-9.5

Delta · 7925H-9.5

Height

38.9 m

Diameter

2.4 m

LEO capacity

0 kg

Successful launches

3

Launch complex

Space Launch Complex 17B

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.

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