Japan has launched the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, a sample‑return spacecraft aimed at the Martian moon Phobos.
The launch took place at 04:41 local time from the Tanegashima Space Centre aboard a H3 rocket. MMX will spend the next year traveling to Mars and is scheduled to bring back samples from Phobos by 2031.
Phobos, with a diameter of about 25 km, is irregularly shaped and heavily cratered. Its nearly circular orbit, lying almost perfectly in Mars’ equatorial plane, makes its origin a subject of debate—whether it is a captured asteroid or formed alongside Mars.
