.mars
Is .mars a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.mars is contested: 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Name Space and Link Freedom Group. Aruba named .mars as a backup string for its .super application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
A fun space-themed novelty name for fans and side projects, unlikely to become the main address of serious companies in the next 5 years.
space enthusiasts, sci-fi and Mars-fandom communities, and hobby or fan projects, with occasional aerospace-adjacent startups wanting a thematic secondary domain
In LFG's published list of 300+ strings submitted before the ICANN window closed on 2026-08-12. Their catalog tagline: “Explore new worlds, boldly.”
One of 10 strings Name Space LLC (led by Gerardo Aristizabal, who won .blog in the 2012 round) applied for in the ICANN 2026 round, reported by Domain Name Wire on 2026-08-18.
Aruba S.p.A. told Domain Name Wire it applied for 39 strings in the 2026 round 'as primary or replacement', listing .mars among them without saying which strings are primary. The claim is the applicant's own, post-filing, relayed by the publication. Founder ruling 2026-09-09: recorded as announced. Already on the record from another applicant, so this adds to the contention set.
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a planet-scale proper noun with no resident population or credentialed community behind it, so the registry is selling pure evocation and aspiration as identity to anyone who wants to sound bigger than a website, rather than serving an existing constituency.
Same frontier-imagination bet aimed at the same buyer (space-adjacent ventures plus everyone who just likes the word), but it is an open generic noun rather than a specific named place, so it carries none of the singular-referent baggage.
Shares the structural duality of a short celestial word that is simultaneously a major global trademark, forcing the applicant to choose between a closed brand namespace and an open evocative one, though as an ordinary common noun it is a much softer version of that collision.
What a .mars domain is
.mars is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 2 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .mars domain extension real yet?
.mars is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. It is a string applicants have put forward in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, the process that decides whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .mars domain?
You can’t yet. A .mars name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .mars was .earth, delegated on 14 May 2015.
Is .mars a real TLD?
Not yet. .mars is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .mars is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Aruba · now deactivated backupICANN
- Aruba · now abandonedICANN
- Name Space · now confirmedICANN
- Link Freedom Group · now confirmedICANN
- Aruba · first recordedDomain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann), quoting Aruba S.p.A.
- Name Space · first recordedDomain Name Wire
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
“LFGL2683T-T17799 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-148 NSL2674T-T93231 · NAME SPACE LLC · primary · contention set 2026-148”ICANN
“APEC2611T-T91332 · Aruba PEC S.P.A. · replacement string of .super · Deactivated LFGL2683T-T17799 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-148 NSL2674T-T93231 · NAME SPACE LLC · primary · contention set 2026-148”ICANN
“Aruba S.p.A., which operates the .cloud top level domain, is expanding its domain portfolio. The company told Domain Name Wire that it applied for 39 top level domains in this year's new TLD round. That number includes replacement strings. [...] The company applied for the following strings as primary or replacement: aid, all, ask, beta, bit, bnb, cart, ciao, daily, demo, easy, fix, gaming, gen, genius, gym, happy, hello, hola, human, kit, lab, mars, max, moon, omg, pec, pop, rem, roma, sign, sito, super, tag, tex, vps, yes, zen, zzz”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann), quoting Aruba S.p.A.
“We are thrilled by the opportunity to help expand the domain name space with innovative new alternatives.”Domain Name Wire
“.mars · Lifestyle · “Explore new worlds, boldly.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 10-29 (vanity/joke/narrow). The string is highly memorable and rides genuine cultural interest in Mars exploration, but its best-fit use over the next 5 years is expressive and thematic rather than primary-identity: a serious company adopting name.mars as its main address would need to explain the choice, and the pool of buyers for whom the TLD adds credibility is thin. It is not in the 30-49 band because sustained volume registration is doubtful once launch novelty fades; demand looks event-driven (mission milestones, fandom moments) rather than continuous, and the brand signal it sends is playful, not professional. It is not in the 1-9 band because a real, if small, market exists: space culture is a durable global fandom, and by analogy with other space-flavored strings (.space, .earth, .rocks), such TLDs have found ongoing registrant bases for personal sites, communities, and campaign pages, though largely on price and rarely as primary identities (analogy, outcomes qualitative; specific volumes unknown). A further drag, reasoned from general knowledge without asserting specifics: the string coincides with a well-known global consumer-goods brand name, which could either constrain marketing or produce contention, and cuts against clean category ownership. The applicant, Link Freedom Group, filed the string as part of a large multi-string portfolio under a 'Lifestyle' label, which is consistent with a broad-catalog play rather than a dedicated vertical push; that positioning informs adoption likelihood but is stated neutrally. Main market uncertainty: whether commercial space activity matures fast enough in the next 5 years to convert Mars from a fandom theme into a real industry vertical with companies wanting a Mars-branded primary identity.