The British Beagle 2 spacecraft landed successfully on Mars' surface, David Parker, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency has confirmed.
The probe was thought lost after attempting a Christmas Day landing on the planet in 2003.
A professor who worked on the Beagle 2 project has hailed its success and said the UK will go back to Mars.
Professor Mark Sims, from the University of Leicester's Space Research Project, said they will do further analysis of the images of Beagle 2.
He said the first photo of the probe came in in 2013 and further pictures last year, when the team "started to get quite excited".
"This is not the end of the story. We will do more imaging and analysis," Prof Sims said.
He added: "Personally I would say Beagle 2 was a great success. The UK can and will go back to Mars."
For 12 years Beagle 2 was feared lost but today it has been hailed after images showed the probe successfully landed on Mars in 2003.
Out of this world: Five fun facts about Beagle 2
Evidence suggests the missing British Beagle 2 spacecraft, reportedly built in a Professor's shed, did land successfully on Mars in 2003.