Space
Japan's ambitious $578 million mission launches to retrieve samples from Mars' largest moon
The MMX spacecraft lifted off Monday on a five-year journey to land on Phobos and return the first-ever samples from a Martian moon to Earth.
Ars Technica
Japan's space agency successfully launched a robotic explorer bound for Mars on Monday, kicking off an audacious five-year mission that aims to land on Phobos, the Red Planet's largest moon, and ferry samples back to Earth. The Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft, or MMX, blasted off from Tanegashima Space Center at 3:41 pm EDT, carrying scientific equipment and collecting systems worth $578 million.
The Launch#
The MMX probe ascended aboard Japan's H3 rocket—the nation's primary heavy-lift vehicle—which made its debut with an enhanced configuration specifically engineered for this demanding interplanetary task. The upgraded version features four solid rocket boosters strapped to its sides, full-power main engines, and an enlarged payload fairing to accommodate MMX's substantial mass and complexity. At just under 10,000 pounds, the spacecraft is Japan's heaviest and most technologically advanced planetary mission to date.
About 71 minutes after ignition, the H3's upper stage released MMX, having accelerated it to speeds exceeding 24,000 mph—sufficient velocity to escape Earth's gravity and commence its journey across space. Ground teams soon confirmed the probe had deployed its solar arrays and entered stable operation, with Japan's space exploration agency chief declaring the liftoff a complete success.
A Historic Scientific Quest#
This mission represents a landmark chapter in humanity's effort to understand planetary origins. Scientists theorize that Phobos itself may once have been a rogue asteroid that Mars captured eons ago, and MMX's sample collection will help test this hypothesis. The mission's success would make it the first spacecraft ever to retrieve pristine material from any of Mars' moons—a scientific achievement that builds on Japan's proven expertise with asteroid sampling through the Hayabusa and Hayabusa 2 missions. Those earlier triumphs established Japan as a leader in precision sample-return exploration, techniques now being extended to the Martian system.
