The exploration of Mars represents one of humanity’s most ambitious scientific endeavours, driven by the quest to understand planetary evolution, search for past or present life, and prepare for future human settlement. The Martian surface, characterized by extreme temperatures, rugged terrain, and limited communication windows, presents significant challenges to robotic exploration. Overcoming these obstacles requires highly capable rover systems equipped with advanced sensing, navigation, and data transmission technologies. This project presents the design, construction, and testing of a miniature autonomous Mars rover The Red Planet Trailblazer engineered to investigate the feasibility of robotic missions for scientific exploration and colonization support. The rover integrates key subsystems including mobility, power management, sensor arrays, and real-time communication, allowing it to traverse diverse terrain while collecting and transmitting scientific data back to mission control. A core innovation of the rover is its camera-based rock identification system, which uses onboard imaging and machine vision techniques to detect and classify geological formations. This is complemented by chemical sensors capable of analyzing elemental composition in situ, offering valuable insights into the planet’s geochemistry and potential habitability. The rover also measures atmospheric conditions such as temperature, humidity, and gas concentrations, contributing to environmental characterization. Furthermore, the rover can be remotely operated, can also be autonomously operated while maintaining real-time data transmission, enabling continuous monitoring and rapid scientific analysis from Earth or orbital platforms. Rigorous testing in simulated Martian environments evaluates its navigation performance, scientific data quality, and communication reliability. Through this project, we have gained practical experience in robotic engineering, planetary science, and data analysis, while contributing to the growing field of autonomous exploration systems essential for future missions to Mars and beyond.