Japan launched its MMX spacecraft from Tanegashima on Oct. 20, 2026, starting a five-year mission to study Mars’s moons, collect material from Phobos and return it to Earth in 2031.
JAXA said the H3 rocket flew as planned. The rocket released MMX into its intended orbit about 71 minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft is expected to reach the Martian system in 2027.
There, it will survey both Phobos and the smaller moon Deimos. Phobos is the mission’s main target. It is a small, irregular moon whose origins remain uncertain.
Scientists hope that studying Phobos and the material brought back from it will help distinguish between two leading ideas about its origin. One idea is that Phobos is a captured asteroid. The other is that it formed from debris after a large impact on Mars.
Before the main spacecraft collects samples, a French-German rover named Idefix is scheduled to explore the surface. The rover is also scheduled to help assess the terrain. MMX aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from Phobos.
The return capsule is targeted to reach Earth in 2031. If successful, the mission will deliver the first samples from a moon in the Martian system for study in laboratories on Earth.