The NetLander mission, a project of the French space agency CNES, is currently in jeopardy of being cancelled. Even if it is not, the original plans having it launch in 2007 may be too optimistic, and a delay to 2009 is being considered.

The NetLander project, as originally envisioned, would deliver an orbiter spacecraft as well as land a cluster of four landers on the Red Planet. As its name suggests, it will be a truly networked mission, with the four landers acting in concert with the orbiter to study Mars jointly. Their examinations would focus on the internal structure of Mars and its atmosphere.

NetLander would be launched on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, perhaps together with another payload -- the orignal plans called for its launch in concert with the Mars Sample Return mission, but that effort has since been delayed until 2014.

If the NetLander mission goes ahead, it would be the first network of scientific stations ever deployed on Mars. Time will tell if the mission is funded and built by CNES and the European Space Agency.