Japan Launches Rocket to Mars to Collect Samples from Phobos

Japan has launched an H3 rocket carrying a spacecraft to explore one of Mars’s moons. The launch marks the start of a five-year sample-return mission.

According to Xinhua on Tuesday (20 October 2026), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the uncrewed Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft aboard H3 Flight 10 at 4.41am local time from the Tanegashima Space Centre in south-western Japan.

The flagship rocket released the spacecraft about 71 minutes after liftoff, placing it on a trajectory towards Mars. The MMX spacecraft is scheduled to land on Phobos, the larger and closer of the two moons orbiting the planet.

It will then collect at least 10 grammes of surface material and bring the sample back to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to arrive in the Mars system in 2027 and conduct detailed observations of Phobos, including from a quasi-satellite orbit.

The spacecraft will also observe Deimos, Mars’s other moon, during the mission. The mission includes deploying a small rover named Idefix to explore Phobos’s surface and support landing and sample-collection operations.

JAXA aims to return the sample to Earth in 2031. It could provide new insights into the origins of Mars’s moons and the evolution of the Martian system.