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Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft has already launched. JAXA’s H3 rocket lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41:03 JST on 20 October 2026, and the spacecraft separated successfully about 71 minutes later. You can watch the official JAXA English-language launch replay on YouTube; this is a recorded webcast, not a live countdown or a skywatching event.
How can I watch the JAXA MMX launch now?
Use JAXA’s archived YouTube broadcast. The English programme began about 55 minutes before liftoff, so the replay includes the prelaunch coverage as well as the flight. For the Japanese-language programme, use JAXA’s Japanese launch replay.
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- Japanese: 火星衛星探査機(MMX)/H3ロケット10号機打上げライブ中継.
- After-launch briefing: JAXA’s English post-launch press conference.
The English replay runs about 2 hours and 17 minutes. To jump to key moments, the timed comments mark T−5 minutes at 52:48, T−1 minute at 56:49, the final ten seconds at 57:39, first-stage cutoff and separation at 1:02:39, and MMX spacecraft separation at 2:08:53. These are replay timestamps, not times after launch.
The launch time was 04:41:03 JST on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, equivalent to 19:41 UTC and 3:41 p.m. EDT on Monday, 19 October. JAXA’s English broadcast began around 03:45 JST. The webcast was online; this was not a backyard skywatching event, and the available information does not establish a public launch-day viewing venue at Tanegashima.
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Did the MMX launch already happen?
Yes. MMX launched successfully on H3 Launch Vehicle flight No. 10 from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at Tanegashima Space Center. JAXA reported that the rocket flew as planned and confirmed spacecraft separation about 71 minutes and 13 seconds after liftoff, with MMX injected into its planned orbit.
The agency confirmed on 21 October that the spacecraft had completed its initial critical operations and was in good health. Those early operations included deployment of the solar arrays, establishment of three-axis control and release of the medium-gain antenna. JAXA’s launch-result announcement and initial-operations update provide the official status.
What is MMX going to do at Mars?
MMX is a JAXA-led sample-return mission to Mars’s moons, not a mission to land on Mars. It will study both Phobos and Deimos, deploy a small rover on Phobos, collect at least 10 grams of Phobos material, and send the sample back to Earth for analysis. JAXA describes it as a world-first sample return from the Martian sphere.
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The science hinges on a question that observations from afar have not settled: did Mars capture two asteroids, or did a giant impact on early Mars blast material into orbit that later formed its moons? A sample can reveal whether Phobos resembles an asteroid or records material from Mars and its impact history. Either answer would help researchers investigate the evolution of the Mars system and how water and organic material moved through the inner Solar System.
Phobos is the larger, closer moon; Deimos is smaller and farther away. MMX’s distinctive return prize is a sample from Phobos. Deimos and Mars will be studied through remote observations and flybys rather than sample collection. JAXA’s mission overview explains why Phobos is the target: Mars’s stronger gravity makes landing and returning a sample from the planet far more difficult, while Phobos may preserve clues about the wider Mars system.
How will MMX collect and return the sample?
The spacecraft carries two complementary sampling systems. JAXA’s corer sampler is designed to take material from roughly two centimetres below the surface. A second device, the P-Sampler, uses bursts of high-pressure nitrogen gas to lift surface material into a collector. Using distinct methods gives the mission ways to gather material from different parts of the surface.
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MMX consists of propulsion, exploration and return modules and measures 5.3 metres high, 9.0 metres long and 4.5 metres wide, according to JAXA. The return module carries a sample capsule about 60 centimetres in diameter. ESA says the spacecraft’s mass, including fuel, is around 4,200 kilograms. The plan is for the capsule to land in Australia’s Woomera Prohibited Area; the sample would then be transferred to JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Japan, for extraction and cataloguing.
The mission is challenging because Phobos is a small, irregular body with very low gravity, its surface is not yet explored in detail, and communication can take up to 44 minutes round-trip. MMX must operate with limited propellant and endure extreme temperature swings. Its spacecraft is expected to remain near Phobos while both orbit Mars, using a quasi-satellite orbit rather than a conventional low orbit around the tiny moon.
What will the Idefix rover do?
The French-German Idefix rover will be deployed before the main spacecraft’s Phobos landings. Developed jointly by France’s CNES and Germany’s DLR, it will survey the surface using instruments including a radiometer, Raman spectrometer and cameras for navigation and ground observation. At 25 kilograms on Earth, the rover would have a weight equivalent to about 15 grams on Phobos because of the moon’s weak gravity.
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Idefix is not the spacecraft’s sample-collection drill. The mothership carries the corer and gas-lift sampler; the rover’s role is to explore and characterize the terrain. That distinction matters because the rover’s reconnaissance and the orbiter’s detailed mapping can help inform the later sampling operations.
When will MMX reach Mars, and when will samples return?
The published schedule calls for arrival in the Mars system in August 2027, followed by years of observations near Phobos. Sampling dates vary among official public schedules, so an exact month should not be treated as settled. The broad plan is to deploy Idefix, conduct two soft landings for sample collection, leave the Mars system in 2030 and return the sample capsule to Earth in 2031.
That makes MMX roughly a five-year round trip. The sample return will be especially significant because no material has previously been brought back from the Martian system. NASA will curate about 15% of the returned material at the Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Lab and make it available for researchers.
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Who is contributing to the mission?
JAXA leads MMX, with contributions from NASA, CNES, DLR and the European Space Agency. NASA supplied the MEGANE gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer and the P-Sampler, and contributes communications and navigation support. ESA provides deep-space communications equipment and ground-station support. CNES contributes the infrared spectrometer and works on Idefix and landing planning; DLR is also a partner on the rover and provided test facilities.
MMX also carries cameras, a lidar, dust and ion instruments, and a radiation monitor. The international payload and operations teams will help turn the returned material and remote observations into a broader study of the moons and Mars’s history. See the NASA mission page and ESA’s MMX overview for partner details.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I watch the MMX launch on NASA TV?
The confirmed launch webcast in the available official information is JAXA’s YouTube stream. NASA is a mission partner, but that does not by itself mean NASA TV carried the launch.
Was MMX the first spacecraft to launch toward Mars?
No. MMX is notable for a different reason: it is designed to visit Mars’s moons and return a Phobos sample to Earth. The mission is also described as the first H3 flight tasked with placing a spacecraft on an interplanetary departure trajectory, according to a launch account citing the MMX project team.
How much Phobos material will MMX bring back?
The mission target is at least 10 grams. The amount ultimately returned will depend on how the collection and return operations proceed.
Will MMX bring back samples from Deimos too?
No sample collection is planned at Deimos. MMX will observe Deimos, while its landings and sample-return effort focus on Phobos.
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