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1h ago

Japan Begins MMX Mission to Bring Back Samples From Mars Moon Phobos

The liftoff starts a five‑year round trip designed to test low‑gravity landing plus two complementary sampling systems with a planned 2031 return of at least 10 grams to Earth.

Image
Perseverance spotted tiny, distant Deimos shining in the Martian sky on March 1, 2025.
The MMX is a stack of three different modules for propulsion, exploration and returning to Earth.
MMX aims to be the first mission to collect a sample from a Martian moon.

Overview

  • The MMX spacecraft lifts off from Tanegashima on Monday, Oct. 19, starting a roughly 10‑month cruise that aims for Mars in August 2027.
  • JAXA leads the mission with 13 instruments on board and international partners including NASA, ESA, CNES and DLR contributing a rover, instruments and sampling hardware.
  • Engineers will deploy the French‑German IDEFIX rover to scout Phobos and then attempt one or two short landings by the exploration module to collect samples in 2030.
  • Two different samplers will be used to secure at least 10 grams: a JAXA coring arm to dig about 2 cm and a NASA pneumatic device that blasts ultrapure nitrogen to lift surface grains.
  • The launch also tests Japan’s H3 rocket after earlier problems and the mission will return a sealed sample capsule to Australia’s Woomera Prohibited Area for lab distribution in 2031.