Mars moon lander set to launch on 19 October

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is scheduled to launch from the Tanegashima Space Center on a H3 rocket on October 20, 2026, at 04:41 JST (4:41 PM in Japan, 9:41 PM in the United Kingdom). This mission, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in collaboration with NASA, CNES, DLR, and ESA, aims to collect a sample from Mars's moon Phobos and return it to Earth.

Phobos and its smaller sibling moon Deimos remain largely uncharted, with questions about their origins and the processes that shaped them. MMX is the first mission to orbit Phobos, land on a moon other than Earth's, and retrieve samples from a lunar surface. After studying Phobos and Deimos, the spacecraft will attempt to land on Phobos to gather samples.

These samples will be transported back to Earth in 2031, providing a valuable resource for scientists to study Mars's history and the formation of our solar system. The mission comprises 11 science instruments, including a radiation monitor, high-resolution cameras, and two sampling devices. One of the rover, named Idefix, weighs just 25 kg and will assist in preparing the main spacecraft's landing and analyzing Phobos's surface.

The mission's findings will be shared with ESA, CNES, DLR, and JAXA, as well as European scientists, fostering ongoing research and collaborations.