Japan’s MMX Phobos sample-return mission launches on October 20

Japan’s government says JAXA’s MMX spacecraft launched from Tanegashima Space Center on October 20, 2026, and entered its planned orbit. NASA says it is expected to reach Mars in August 2027, study Phobos and Deimos, and return a Phobos sample to Earth in 2031; JAXA’s goal is to bring back more than 10 grams. Scientists hope the material will help determine whether Mars’s moons are captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact.