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The craft consists of the Mars Express Orbiter which also carried a lander, Beagle 2, designed to perform exobiology and geochemistry research. It was hoped the lander would shed light on whether Mars had once supported or possibly supports living organisms.
The orbiter entered Mars orbit on December 25, 2003, and Beagle 2 entered Mars' atmosphere the same day. After repeated attempts to contact the lander failed, it was declared lost on February 6, 2004, by the Beagle 2 Management Board. On February 11, ESA announced an inquiry would be held into the failure of Beagle 2.
In the meantime, the Mars Express Orbiter has started its science phase and performs excellently at the start of a two year survey of Mars.