Japanese spacecraft on its way to Mars' Moon Phobos
A Japanese spacecraft is on its way to Phobos, one of the Mars' Moons, Tuesday October 20, 2026 on a world's first mission to retrieve samples, potentially helping unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth.
A Japanese spacecraft is on its way to Phobos, one of the Mars' Moons, Tuesday October 20, 2026 on a world's first mission to retrieve samples, potentially helping unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth.
The flagship H3 rocket carrying the unmanned Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe blasted off into a pitch-black sky from the Tanegashima Space Centre at 4:41 am (1941 GMT Monday), according to a live stream broadcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Over an hour later, Jaxa announced via the live broadcast that the probe had successfully separated from the H3 and was "beginning its journey toward the Martian system", news agency AFP reported.
"I'd dreamt of this day, so I'm incredibly happy," said JAXA scientist Mari Aida. "Right now I feel really relieved."
Following the separation, JAXA said it received signals from the spacecraft as expected, confirming it was operating normally.
Schedule and Timeline
JAXA’s $350 million mission, with $87 million chipped in by NASA, will be on a five-year round trip to Phobos, a 17-mile space potato that might be a captured asteroid or a chunk blasted off Mars itself.
The spacecraft is due to arrive near Mars around August next year, where it will orbit Phobos, one of its moons. Once MMX arrives on Phobos, it will collect at least 10 grams (0.35 ounces) of material from the surface during its planned three years in the Red Planet's vicinity.
Notably, Japan’s Hayabusa probe already brought asteroid dust home twice. The country with the thinnest headlines in space is now about to answer a question NASA has been asking since the 1970s, according to Wall Street Journal.
The mission — which aims to be the first round trip to the Martian region — is a collaboration with US and European space agencies, as well as numerous universities and tech companies.
There are only three moons in the inner Solar System - our own Moon, and two around Mars, which are called Phobos and Deimos. Both of these moons are tiny - Phobos is about 20km (12 miles) across and Deimos is about 10km (six miles) across. They are also irregularly shaped, looking a bit like space potatoes, according to BBC.
Interestingly, Russia tried a similar mission in 2011 but never left Earth orbit.
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