Overview
- MMX lifted off Monday from Tanegashima on an H3 rocket and is now on a roughly 10‑month cruise to the Martian system with arrival expected around August 2027.
- The spacecraft carries 13 scientific instruments and the IDEFIX rover, which will land on Phobos in late 2028 or early 2029 to scout terrain before sampling operations.
- Sampling will use two complementary systems: a NASA/Honeybee pneumatic device to collect loose surface dust and a JAXA corer to take shallow subsurface cores, with a goal of at least 10 grams returned.
- After up to two landings and about three years of in‑system work, MMX plans to depart Mars in late 2030 and deliver the sealed sample capsule to Australia in 2031, with NASA to receive and curate a portion of the return.
- The mission builds on JAXA's Hayabusa sample‑return experience, faces major low‑gravity and long‑distance challenges, and could yield rare Martian material that would help settle competing origin theories for Phobos and Deimos.