Japan launched a probe bound for one of Mars’ moons, gaining an edge over China in the race to become the first country to bring back to Earth samples from the red planet or one of its moons.
The uncrewed spacecraft was launched aboard an H3 rocket around 4:40 a.m. local time on Tuesday, from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, according to a live broadcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The probe is expected to reach the vicinity of Mars in 2027 as part of JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The aim is to study the planet’s two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, and to collect about 10 grams of material from Phobos before returning the samples to Earth in 2031. If successful, it will be the first mission in history to bring back samples from the Martian system.
The Chinese Tianwen-3 mission is slated to be launched around 2028, with the objective of collecting samples directly from the Martian surface and bringing them back to Earth around 2031.
The United States had planned its own Mars sample-return mission in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), but the project was cancelled due to rising costs and delays. The mission would have retrieved samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in 2021.
The Japanese mission aims to clarify the origin of Phobos and Deimos, helping scientists determine whether the moons were asteroids captured by Mars’ gravity or fragments launched into orbit after an ancient collision with the planet.
JAXA is working in partnership with international space agencies, including those of France and Germany, which developed a rover to explore Phobos. NASA provided an instrument capable of measuring the energies of neutrons and gamma rays emitted by the surface of the Martian moon.
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