The UK-led probe - Mars robot Beagle 2 tried to make a soft touchdown on the red soil of Mars on the Christmas day of 2003 but no radio contact was ever made with the probe.
It was then assumed that it had been destroyed in a high-velocity impact.
High-resolution images taken from orbit have identified the probe and found it to be in one piece.
Images taken by the camera on Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have also solved the mystery of what happened to Beagle 2.
This find shows that the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sequence for Beagle 2 worked and the lander did successfully touchdown on Mars.
Image analysis by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has confirmed that the targets discovered, are of the correct size, shape, colour and dispersion to Beagle 2.
Unfortunately given the partial deployment, it would not be possible to revive Beagle 2 and recover data from it.
Professor Colin Pillinger from the Open University who led the Beagle 2 project with inspirational enthusiasm died in May 2014.
A computer-generated image shows three airbags separating to release the Beagle 2 lander craft onto the surface of Mars in 2003. (Reuters photo)
Others who provided major contributions to Beagle 2 were Professor George Fraser of the University of Leicester and Professor David Barnes of Aberystwyth University who also died in 2014.
Dr David Parker, chief executive of the UK Space Agency, said "The history of space exploration is marked by both success and failure. This finding makes the case that Beagle 2 was more of a success than we previously knew and undoubtedly an important step in Europe's continuing exploration of Mars".
Professor Mark Sims of the University of Leicester who was an integral part of the Beagle 2 project from the start leading the initial study phase said "I am delighted that Beagle 2 has finally been found on Mars. Every Christmas Day since 2003 I have wondered what happened to Beagle 2. My Christmas day in 2003 alongside many others who worked on Beagle 2 was ruined by the disappointment of not receiving data from the surface of Mars. To be frank I had all but given up hope of ever knowing what happened to Beagle 2. The images show that we came so close to achieving the goal of science on Mars.
"I view it as a great achievement that the team built Beagle 2 in a little over four years and successfully landed it on the surface of Mars."
Dr Judith Pillinger who was heavily involved in the Beagle 2 project in particular its publicity and was married to Professor Colin Pillinger said "On behalf of Colin, I would like to thank everyone who joined with him to make Beagle 2 happen so many years ago. For me and his family, of course, seeing the images from Mars brings about mixed emotions. An immense sense of pride is inevitably tinged with great sadness that Colin is not able to share the findings with us".
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