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Japan has launched an unmanned spacecraft toward the moon Phobos, which orbits Mars, in a mission aimed at being the first to collect samples from this small rocky body and return them to Earth for analysis.
The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft, belonging to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched aboard an H3 rocket before dawn on Tuesday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.
The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars in August 2027 and return the samples to Earth in 2031. JAXA hopes the mission will shed light on the origin of Mars' moons and deepen our understanding of the early stages of our solar system.
Phobos, the larger of the two moons of Mars, orbits the planet three times a day. Phobos is characterized by an irregular shape and orbits at an altitude of about 6,000 kilometers above the Martian surface.
The agency aims to collect at least 10 grams of material from its surface and return it to Earth for analysis.
This launch represents the first interplanetary mission for the Japanese H3 rocket. The country's flagship rocket suffered a resounding failure on its maiden flight in 2023 when the second-stage engine failed to ignite, but the rocket has since completed a series of mostly successful launches.
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