[5] The mission involves a stationary lander that would be a near copy of the successful 2008 Phoenix and 2018 InSight spacecraft, but would carry an astrobiology scientific payload, including a drill to sample ice-cemented ground in the northern plains to conduct a search for biosignatures of current or past life on Mars.

[1][6] The science goals for Icebreaker Life focus on sampling ice-cemented ground for its potential to preserve and protect biomolecules or biosignatures.

The Icebreaker Life mission has been designed based on the successful 2008 Phoenix lander in terms of platform and northern landing site.

The biology experiments sought to detect living organisms based on the hypothesis that microbial life would be widely present in the soils, as it is on Earth, and that it would respond to nutrients added with liquid water.

The Viking biology experiments operated successfully on both landers, with an instrument showing signs of active bacterial metabolism, but it did not occur with a duplicate heat-treated sample.

One of the key goals of the Icebreaker Life mission is to test the hypothesis that the ice-rich ground in the polar regions has significant concentrations of organics due to protection by the ice from oxidants and radiation.

If non-biological organics are found, then the north polar regions would be compelling targets for future astrobiology missions, especially because of the potential recent habitability (5 million years ago) of this ice.

Ionizing radiation and photochemical oxidants are more damaging in dry regolith, therefore, it may be necessary to reach ~1 m (3 ft 3 in) deep where organic molecules may be shielded by the ice from the surface conditions.

Icebreaker Life would study the concentration and distribution of ferrous iron, nitrate, and perchlorate as a biologically useful redox couple -or energy source- in the ground ice.

Icebreaker Life would carry a rotary-percussive drill and the proposed scientific instruments have already been tested in relevant analogue environments and on Mars.