Where is Curiosity right now?

Curiosity is climbing the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometre-high layered mountain inside Gale Crater on Mars. Its exact current coordinates and total distance driven update automatically at the top of this page, sourced from NASA's own published rover telemetry.

Where Is Curiosity Now? Live Position, Distance Driven & Mission Status

Q: How far has Curiosity traveled on Mars?

Curiosity's total driving distance increases as the mission continues. The live figure at the top of this page is pulled directly from NASA's official rover waypoint data and updates automatically as new drives are logged.

Q: What is the difference between Curiosity and Perseverance?

Curiosity, part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, landed in 2012 to determine whether Gale Crater ever had conditions able to support microbial life. Perseverance, which landed in 2021 in Jezero Crater, builds on that by actively searching for signs of ancient life itself and caching rock samples for eventual return to Earth.

NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since August 2012, investigating whether the region ever had environmental conditions able to support microbial life. Part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, it was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars until Perseverance arrived nearly a decade later.

This page tracks Curiosity's real position and distance driven using NASA's own published telemetry — the same data rendered live on SatFleet Live's interactive Mars map, alongside the rover's complete real driving trail.

Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater on Mars, seen from NASA's Curiosity rover — Mount Sharp, the 5-kilometre-high layered mountain Curiosity has been climbing since 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Quick Facts

Mission name	Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Agency	NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Launch	November 26, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41
Landing	August 6, 2012 (UTC), Gale Crater, Mars
Landing site	Gale Crater — a 154-km-wide impact basin with the layered Mount Sharp at its centre
Dimensions	Approx. 3 m long, 2.7 m wide, 2.2 m tall
Power source	Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG)
Mission status	Active, now in its 14th year of surface operations
Landing method	Sky crane — first used on Curiosity, later reused for Perseverance

How This Live Data Works

The figures at the top of this page are not estimated or simulated. NASA publishes Curiosity's driving telemetry directly — including its position and cumulative distance driven — and SatFleet Live reads this data automatically to keep both this page and the interactive Mars map up to date.

On the Mars map, this same data is rendered as a real driving trail overlaid on true Mars surface imagery, alongside Perseverance, active orbiters, and the planet's moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Mission Objectives

Curiosity was sent to answer a single central question: did Gale Crater ever have environmental conditions capable of supporting small life forms called microbes? Within its first year, the rover found the answer at a site called Yellowknife Bay, where clay-bearing sedimentary rocks revealed evidence of an ancient lakebed with fresh water, the key chemical ingredients for life, and a chemical source of energy microbes could have used.

With that question answered, Curiosity's ongoing mission is to study the rock record preserved in Mount Sharp's layers, each of which represents a different chapter in how Mars' environment and climate changed over time — tracing the planet's transition from a wetter past to the cold, dry world it is today.

The Ten Science Instruments

Cameras

Mastcam

Mast-mounted stereo camera system used for color imaging and video of the terrain and rover activities.

MAHLI

Mars Hand Lens Imager — a close-up camera on the robotic arm for detailed images of rock grains and textures.

MARDI

Mars Descent Imager — captured high-resolution video of the terrain during Curiosity's final descent to the surface.

Spectrometers

ChemCam

Fires a laser at rock targets from a distance and analyses the resulting spark to determine chemical composition.

APXS

Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer — determines the chemical composition of rocks and soil in contact with the arm.

CheMin

Identifies and quantifies the minerals in rock and soil samples using X-ray diffraction.

SAM

Sample Analysis at Mars — a suite of instruments that searches for organic compounds and studies the Martian atmosphere.

Radiation & Environment

RAD

Radiation Assessment Detector — measures radiation levels relevant to future human exploration.

DAN

Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons — detects water and ice just beneath the Martian surface.

REMS

Rover Environmental Monitoring Station — tracks temperature, wind, humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover analyzing a Martian rock target with its laser — ChemCam fires a laser at rock targets and analyses the spark to determine their chemical composition. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Climbing Mount Sharp

Since reaching the base of Mount Sharp in 2014, Curiosity has been steadily climbing through its lower layers, each one a snapshot of a different period in Mars' environmental history. On August 26, 2026, in its 14th year on Mars, the rover reached a new milestone: a cumulative elevation gain of 1 kilometre since it began the ascent — the highest point of its journey so far.

Along the way, Curiosity's instruments have made some of the mission's most significant discoveries, including some of the largest organic compounds ever detected on Mars, found in a drilled rock sample and hypothesized by researchers to be fragments of fatty acids preserved in ancient mudstone — evidence that complex carbon chemistry was at work on Mars billions of years ago.

Self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars — A Curiosity self-portrait, assembled from dozens of MAHLI images taken at the end of the rover's arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

Mission Timeline

Nov 26, 2011Launch from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41.
Aug 6, 2012Landing in Gale Crater using the sky crane maneuver, a first for Mars exploration.
2013Discovers evidence of an ancient freshwater lakebed at Yellowknife Bay, fulfilling the mission's core science goal.
2014Reaches the base of Mount Sharp and begins its ongoing ascent through the mountain's layers.
2018SAM instrument detects seasonal variations in atmospheric methane and organic molecules preserved in ancient mudstone.
Feb 2026Researchers confirm some of the largest organic compounds ever found on Mars in a Curiosity-drilled sample.
Aug 26, 2026Curiosity marks 1 kilometre of cumulative elevation gain climbing Mount Sharp, in its 14th year on Mars.

Frequently Asked Questions

Curiosity is climbing the foothills of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater. Its exact current coordinates and total distance driven update automatically at the top of this page, sourced from NASA's own published rover telemetry.

The live distance figure at the top of this page is pulled directly from NASA's official rover waypoint data and updates automatically as new drives are logged.

Yes. Curiosity remains an active NASA mission, now in its 14th year on Mars, continuing to climb Mount Sharp and analyse its rock layers.

Curiosity confirmed that Gale Crater once held a freshwater lake with the chemical ingredients needed for life, and has found some of the largest organic compounds ever detected on Mars.

SatFleet Live reads NASA's own published rover waypoint telemetry and renders it on an interactive 3D Mars globe, including the rover's real driving trail.

Curiosity landed in 2012 to determine whether Gale Crater ever had conditions able to support microbial life. Perseverance, which landed in 2021 in Jezero Crater, actively searches for signs of ancient life itself and caches rock samples for eventual return to Earth.

Sources

MSL / Curiosity Mission Overviewmars.nasa.gov
Curiosity Arrives at Mount Sharpmars.nasa.gov
A Guide to Gale Cratermars.nasa.gov
ChemCam Instrument Overviewmars.nasa.gov
Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rovermars.nasa.gov

Explore More

See Curiosity moving live

Watch its real driving trail on an interactive 3D Mars globe, alongside Perseverance and active orbiters.

Open the Mars Tracker