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Mars Moon Mission

Japan launches MMX mission to bring back samples from Mars' moon Phobos

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the MMX spacecraft toward Phobos on an H3 rocket on October 19. It aims to return samples to Earth in 2031.

Bora Haber

· 1 min read

A space shuttle lifting off from a launch pad, surrounded by bright orange flames and billowing white smoke under a blue sky.
Representative image: launches mark the start of missions like bringing Phobos samples back to Earth. Photo: Temsili görsel

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched a spacecraft from Tanegashima Space Center in the early hours of October 19. The craft, part of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, was sent into space on an H3 rocket and aims to collect soil, dust and rock samples from Phobos, the larger of Mars' two natural moons.

If completed successfully, it will be the first operation to bring samples back to Earth from a moon of Mars. The spacecraft is expected to return in 2031.

How the mission works

The spacecraft carries probes and rovers to Phobos. After landing on the moon's surface, the devices will examine the surface, collect data and take soil and rock samples to be brought back to Earth.

The project is a joint effort led by Japan, with five space agencies from around the world taking part. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and international partners provide equipment and communications support. The mission's total cost is estimated at about $578 million.

Why Phobos?

Scientists chose Phobos as the sampling site because it is closer to Mars than the other moon, Deimos. That position may offer clues that help scientists learn more about the red planet.

According to JAXA, about 0.1 percent of the samples collected from Phobos may be of Martian origin. Scientists believe these could be rock fragments that were ejected from Mars by meteorite impacts and landed on Phobos' surface.

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