Beagle 2 lander leaving the Mars Express orbiter

The Beagle 2 lander, to be carried on ESA's Mars Express, is equipped with a suite of instruments designed to look for evidence of life on Mars.

The Soyuz/Fregat lifts off on 2 June 2003 with ESA's Mars Express. Europe's first mission to the Red Planet leaves Earth
when the
positions of the two planets make for
the shortest possible route, a condition
that occurs once every twenty-six
months. The intrepid spacecraft will
start its six-month journey from the
Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan onboard a Russian
Soyuz/Fregat launcher.