Lander (spacecraft) a landing which should have come on 25 December 2003 was not received. Indeed, no communication was ever established and "Beagle 2" was declared lost on 6 February 2004. The proposed 2009 British Beagle 3 lander mission to search for life, past or present was not adopted. The French/ESA NetLander mission for 2007 or 2009, with an orbiter and 4 landers, was cancelled because it was too expensive. Its successor, Mars MetNet, a multi-lander mission for 2011–2019 was not adopted by the ESA. The American Mars Exploration Rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity" were launched in June and July 2003. They reached
Mars program failed to leave Earth orbit due to problems with the upper stages of their carrier rockets. Mars 2M No.521 and Mars 2M No.522, known in the West as Mars 1969A and B, were heavier spacecraft with masses of . They were launched by Proton-K rockets, and consisted of orbiters. Both were destroyed during launch. The Mars 4M spacecraft; Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions consisted of identical spacecraft, each with an orbiter and an attached lander, which became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of Mars. The orbiters' primary scientific objectives were to image the Martian surface and clouds,