The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) ‘Martian Moons eXploration’ (MMX) mission is scheduled to begin on October 20, 2026, with the launch of the H3 Launch Vehicle No. 10 from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center. It will explore the larger of Mars’ two moons, Phobos, which has never before been visited by humans, reported JAXA.

The mission will explore and study Phobos’ composition, gravity, internal structure, topography and other such features; it will use a robotic lander to collect surface sand and rock samples. These samples will be returned to Earth during 2031. It will include a flyby of Mars’ second moon, Deimos, and overall monitoring of Mars’ climate.

JAXA is collaborating with NASA (which will provide a neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer), France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES)(contributing the Near IR Spectrometer and expertise in flight dynamics), as well as the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA), which are providing scientific instruments and the small rover which will land on Phobos.