MARS (Multi Analyses on Radioactive Samples) beamline is the hard X-ray bending magnet beamline dedicated to the study of radioactive matter of the new French synchrotron SOLEIL. The beamline, which has been built thanks to a close partnership and support by the CEA, has been designed to provide X-rays in the energy range of 3.5 keV to 35 keV. This allows to encompass M and L absorption edges of actinides, as well as K edges of transition metals (that are present in alloys and fuel claddings) up to heavy halogens, rare gases and alkalis (fission products in nuclear fuels). The MARS project aims to extend the possibilities of synchrotron based X-ray characterizations towards a wider variety of radioactive elements and a wider variety of techniques than what is currently available at other facilities. Thus, its specific and innovative infrastructure has been optimized in order to carry out analyses on materials with activities up to 18.5 GBq per sample for α and β emitters and 2 GBq for γ and n emitters. So, today, more than 70 different elements and more than 350 different isotopes have been proposed for studies on the beamline by the involved user community. The arrangement of the different elements in the optics hutch is based on an original scheme which permits to have two alternative optical configurations (monochromatic or dispersive) depending on the nature of experiments to be performed. At least three main techniques are progressively being proposed on the three complementary end-stations located in the experimental hutch: transmission and high resolution powder diffraction (TXRD and HRXRD), standard and dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS and EDXAS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). In addition, by using the KB optics, a micro-focused beam will be available on the second station of the monochromatic branch. The beamline is currently under commissioning. The first two experimental stations, using the monochromatic branch, are scheduled to be operational at the end of the year.