MMX Phobos launch puts sampler on course
Key Takeaways The liftoff JAXA launched the Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft on H3 flight No. 10 at 4:41:03 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, from the Tanegashima Space Center. The agency said separation came about 71 minutes and 13 seconds later. Sample target JAXA's schedule calls for a 10-gram sample from two soft landings on Phobos. Another page on the mission site says the goal is to return more than 10 grams, and Reuters reported an aim of at least 10 grams. Return year Reuters and the BBC say the craft should reach Mars in August 2027 and send samples back in 2031. JAXA schedules recovery of the capsule in Australia in 2031. Moon origin JAXA says the grains are meant to test two ideas: that Phobos and Deimos are debris from a giant impact on Mars, or that they are asteroids Mars captured. The MMX Phobos launch lifted Japan's Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft off the Tanegashima Space Center on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, aboard H3 rocket flight No. 10. The J…
