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1h ago

Japan to Launch MMX Mission to Return Samples From Phobos

A retrieved sample could determine whether Phobos formed from Mars impact debris or is a captured asteroid, providing material for laboratory study to guide future Mars exploration.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is set to launch its Martian Moons eXploration mission. (AP PHOTO)
The MMX mission is aiming for Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos. The mission, scheduled to launch October 20, 2026, will flyby Mars and both its moons. It will also land on Phobos and return a soil sample back to Earth. Image via ESA/ JAXA.
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Overview

  • The MMX spacecraft is scheduled to lift off Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, from Tanegashima on Japan’s H3 rocket to begin a roughly five-year round trip to Phobos.
  • The probe carries 13 instruments and a France–Germany rover called Idefix that will scout Phobos for about 100 days before the main landings planned later in the campaign.
  • JAXA aims to return at least 10 grams of Phobos material using both a Japanese coring system and a NASA gas-sampling device, with a sample capsule expected to touch down in Australia’s Woomera Prohibited Area in 2031.
  • Engineers face two central technical risks: landing and sampling in Phobos’ extremely low gravity, which requires four-legged shock-absorbing gear, and dependence on the new H3 rocket after mixed recent flights.
  • The mission is multinational with NASA, ESA, CNES and DLR contributions, and its samples could resolve the moons’ origin, reveal Martian ejecta or prebiotic material, and inform plans for future human missions to Mars.