Astronomy News

MMX Successfully Launched

This morning, October 20, 2026, at exactly 2:41:03 AM Thailand time, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft aboard an H3-24L rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle shortly after liftoff, beginning a mission planned to last around five years.

Image 2000 1de72dac3a6a1e435111c5437f0d7f8aCr. JAXA

MMX aims to explore Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars, with a particular focus on Phobos. By collecting and returning a sample from Phobos, the mission will give scientists an opportunity to study material from a Martian moon directly in laboratories on Earth.The mission may also offer a way to study material from Mars itself. Over time, impacts on Mars can eject rocks into space, and some of this material may have accumulated on Phobos. If such material is present in the returned sample, it could provide additional clues about Mars’s surface, its past environment, and the history of water on the planet. It is expected to take about one year to reach Mars. MMX will then conduct observations of the Martian moons and carry out its operations around Phobos, including sample collection. The exploration and sampling phase is planned to take approximately three years, followed by another year for the return journey to Earth.

MMX follows the achievements of JAXA’s Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions, which returned samples from the asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu. MMX further establishes JAXA’s expertise in collecting samples from asteroids and other low-gravity bodies. It demonstrates that space exploration still offers many opportunities and that Asian countries can play in advancing technologies for future missions and take leading roles in this particular field.

The journey has only just begun, but its discoveries could bring us one step closer to understanding not only Mars and its moons, but also prepare us for the future of human exploration beyond Earth.

Text: Rika Mei Reventar, Matipon Tangmatitham