Japan Launches MMX Mission to Bring Samples Back From Mars’s Moon Phobos.
What Happened
Japan launched its Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft from Tanegashima Space Center on October 20, 2026, aboard an H3 rocket. NASA Science Led by JAXA, the mission aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from Phobos and return it to Earth in 2031. The spacecraft separated successfully from the rocket, officials confirmed.
Key Takeaways
The mission seeks to explain how Mars’s moons formed by analysing material from Phobos. Sample collection and the planned 2031 return remain future objectives, rather than achievements of the launch.