Japan launches mission to return samples from Mars moon

Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward the Martian moon Phobos on Tuesday (October 20) on a mission intended to become the first to collect samples from the small rocky body and return them to Earth for analysis.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft lifted off aboard an H3 rocket before dawn from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.

The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and return samples to Earth in 2031. JAXA hopes the mission will shed light on the origin of the two moons of Mars and deepen the understanding of our solar system’s early stages.

Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons, orbits the planet three times a day. Phobos has an irregular shape with dimensions of about 27 km by 22 km by 18 km (17 miles by 14 miles by 11 miles), and orbits roughly 6,000 km (3,700 miles) above the Martian surface.

JAXA aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from its surface and return it to Earth for analysis.

The launch marked the first interplanetary mission for Japan’s H3 rocket. The country’s flagship launcher experienced a high-profile failure on its inaugural flight in 2023 when its second-stage engine failed to ignite, but has since completed a series of mostly successful launches.

(Camera: Tom Bateman; Editing: Ivan Romero; Writing:Reporting by Tom Bateman in Minamitane and Daniel Leussink in Tokyo; Text editing by Will Dunham)