Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)

Overview

Destination: Mars Orbit
Mission: Planetary Science

Mars Orbit Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

MMX is a Japanese scientific mission to land on Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, to collect samples before bringing them back to Earth. The mission includes a small French/German rover to explore the surface of Phobos.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 20, 2026, 5:05 a.m.

GO for launch.


Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 19, 2026, 2:27 p.m.

NET October 20.



Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 6, 2023, 11:07 a.m.

Delayed to 2026 launch window due to H3 launch vehicle unavailability.


H3-24

Family:
Configuration: 24

The H3 Launch Vehicle is a Japanese expendable launch system. Each H3 booster configuration has a two-digit and a letter designation that indicates the features of that configuration. The first digit represents the number of LE-9 engines on the main stage, either "2" or "3". The second digit indicates the number of SRB-3 solid rocket boosters attached to the base of the rocket, and can be "0", "2" or "4". All layouts of solid boosters are symmetrical. The letter in the end shows the length of the payload fairing, either short "S" or long "L". For example, an H3-24L has two engines, four solid rocket boosters, and a long fairing, whereas an H3-30S has three engines, no solid rocket boosters, and a short fairing.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    63.0 m
  • Diameter
    5.27 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.27 m
  • Launch Mass
    ―
  • Thrust
    12142.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    H3-24
  • Family
    ―
  • Variant
    24
  • Alias
    ―
  • Full Name
    H3-24
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $50000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    ―
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    7900.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
    ―
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    ―

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

(MHI)

President: Seiji Izumisawa Founded: 1884 Successes: 56 Failures: 2 Pending: 13

Agency Type:

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group. MHI's products include aerospace components, air conditioners, aircraft, automotive components, forklift trucks, hydraulic equipment, machine tools, missiles, power generation equipment, printing machines, ships and space launch vehicles. Through its defense-related activities, it is the world's 23rd-largest defense contractor measured by 2011 defense revenues and the largest based in Japan.

INFO WIKI
ESA

Mars moon lander set to launch on 19 October

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is set to launch into space on a H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41 JST on 20 October 2026 (20:41 BST / 21:41 CEST on 19 October 2026). MMX will be the first mission to collect …

NASA

NASA Briefing to Highlight Contributions to Martian Moons Mission

Media are invited to join NASA for a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 15, to preview the agency’s contributions to JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The mission is schedu…

NASASpaceflight

IDEFIX Phobos rover sent to Japan ahead of mission to Mars

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is JAXA’s lead mission that plans to survey and explore Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos. While the Japanese agency will build the main payload, the German Space Agency (DLR) and the National C…

European Spaceflight

European Martian Moon Rover on Its Way to Japan

A small rover developed by France and Germany is on its way to Japan for integration with the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) probe. The rover, which is called Idefix after the small white terrier from the Asterix comics, will be the first …

SpaceNews

Japanese Mars mission launch delayed to 2026

The launch of a Japanese mission to collect samples from the Martian moon Phobos and return them to Earth, previously scheduled for later this year, has slipped to 2026.

Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2


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