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On August 12, 2005, MRO was launched aboard an Atlas V-401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

TCM-1 to TCM-4 denote the planned trajectory correction maneuvers. Launch of Atlas V carrying the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 11:43:00 UTC August 12, 2005 After its main science operations are completed, the probe's extended mission is to be the communication and navigation system for landers and rover probes. Beagle 2 was found by the orbiter at the beginning of 2015.

In addition, MRO was tasked with looking for the remains of the previously lost Mars Polar Lander and Beagle 2 spacecraft. MRO is using its onboard scientific equipment to study the Martian climate, weather, atmosphere, and geology, and to search for signs of liquid water in the polar caps and underground.

The MRO provided critical navigation data during their landings and acts as a telecommunications relay. Mars Science Laboratory, a highly maneuverable rover, also had its landing site inspected. After analysis with HiRISE and the Mars Odyssey's THEMIS instrument a new site was chosen. The initial site chosen by scientists was imaged with the HiRISE camera and found to be littered with boulders. The MRO played an important role in choosing the landing site of the Phoenix Lander, which explored the Martian Arctic in Green Valley. One of the mission's main goals is to map the Martian landscape with its high-resolution cameras in order to choose landing sites for future surface missions. MRO science operations were initially scheduled to last two Earth years, from November 2006 to November 2008. Kennedy Space Center on to prepare it for launch. There were no major setbacks during MRO's construction, and the spacecraft was moved to John F. By the end of 2001 all of the mission's instruments were selected. On October 3, 2001, NASA chose Lockheed Martin as the primary contractor for the spacecraft's fabrication. The satellite was also to include a visible-near-infrared spectrograph. Garvin, the Mars exploration program scientist for NASA, proclaimed that MRO would be a "microscope in orbit". Early specifications of the satellite included a large camera to take high resolution pictures of Mars. MRO is modeled after NASA's highly successful Mars Global Surveyor to conduct surveillance of Mars from orbit. The orbiter mission was rescheduled for launch in 2005, and NASA announced its final name, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, on October 26, 2000. One of two missions considered for the 2003 Mars launch window, the MRO proposal lost against what became known as the Mars Exploration Rovers. MRO's telecommunications system will transfer more data back to Earth than all previous interplanetary missions combined, and MRO will serve as a highly capable relay satellite for future missions. It paves the way for future spacecraft by monitoring Mars' daily weather and surface conditions, studying potential landing sites, and hosting a new telecommunications system. MRO contains a host of scientific instruments such as cameras, spectrometers, and radar, which are used to analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of Mars. Mars Global Surveyor and the Spirit rover have since ceased to function the remainder remain operational as of March 2016. As MRO entered orbit, it joined five other active spacecraft that were either in orbit or on the planet's surface: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express, 2001 Mars Odyssey, and the two Mars Exploration Rovers ( Spirit and Opportunity) at the time, this set a record for the most operational spacecraft in the immediate vicinity of Mars. In November 2006, after five months of aerobraking, it entered its final science orbit and began its primary science phase. It was launched August 12, 2005, and attained Martian orbit on March 10, 2006. The mission is managed by the California Institute of Technology, at the JPL, in La Cañada Flintridge, California, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The US$720 million spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin under the supervision of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ( MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. Lua error in a at line 80: module 'Module:No globals' not found. For other Mars orbiters, see Mars Orbiter.