An H3 rocket lifts off from the Tanegashima Space Center by the sea

Photo by nvs-live.com on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Japan Launches Mission to Collect Mars Moon Soil

technologyOct 21, 2026·299 words·3 min read

Japan has successfully launched the first mission to bring back soil from Phobos, one of Mars's two small moons. The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) probe took off on an H3 rocket at 4:41 a.m. from the Tanegashima Space Center in south-western Japan. About an hour later, the probe separated from the rocket, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that the launch had been a success.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Scientists do not know how they were formed. Some think they are pieces from a big crash with Mars. Others think they are asteroids – rocks that travel around the Sun – that Mars pulled in with its gravity. The soil should help answer this question. Nobody has landed on these moons before.

MMX should reach Mars in 2027. First, it will drop a small rover – a robot car – built by France and Germany. Because the moon's gravity is very weak, the rover will bounce before it stops. It will look for safe places to land. Then the main spacecraft will land for about two hours and collect soil. The soil will come back to Earth in a capsule that lands in Australia. NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) says the results could help future trips to Mars with people.

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