NASA’s newest Mars explorer, Maven, is now heading into space after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Maven was launched aboard an unmanned Atlas-Five rocket. The name "Maven" is an acronym for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution. It will orbit the upper atmosphere of Mars to examine its interaction with the sun and its solar wind.

The journey will take 10 months, putting Maven in orbit around Mars in September next year. The spacecraft will circle the red planet for a full Earth year.

Maven is carrying eight scientific instruments, as well as communications relay equipment for use with Mars landers. The mission has nearly 700-million US dollars. It is NASA’s 21st shot at Mars.

Fourteen of the previous 20 missions have succeeded, the most recent being the Curiosity rover, launched in 2011 that landed on Mars in 2012.