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Japan launches MMX probe to bring back first samples from a Mars moon

The H3 rocket lifted off from Tanegashima before dawn, carrying a spacecraft that aims to collect at least 10 grams of rock and dust from Phobos and return it to Earth in 2031.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 20 Oct 2026, 10:52

Phobos, the larger of Mars's two moons, seen over the planet in an image built from ESA Mars Express data. Japan's MMX mission is headed for Phobos to collect samples and return them to Earth. Credit: Andrea Luck / ESA / DLR / FU Berlin, CC BY 2.0 Andrea Luck / ESA / DLR / FU Berlin, CC BY 2.0

Japan launched a spacecraft towards Mars's moon Phobos early on Tuesday, beginning a mission that aims to bring back the first samples ever collected from the Martian system for study on Earth.

The H3 rocket carrying the Martian Moons eXploration, or MMX, lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in south-western Japan at 4:41am local time. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the rocket flew as planned and the spacecraft separated about 71 minutes later, entering its planned orbit.

If the mission succeeds, it will be the first time material from Mars or its moons has been returned to laboratories on Earth. Scientists say pristine samples, uncontaminated by their passage through the atmosphere, could settle a long argument about how the two small moons formed.

MMX is due to reach the Martian system around August 2027. It will study the larger moon, Phobos, from orbit and release a small French-German rover called Idefix, which is meant to bounce across the surface in very low gravity and survey possible landing sites for about 100 days.

The main spacecraft will then touch down on Phobos, drill and vacuum up at least 10 grams of rock and dust, and pack the material into a capsule. That capsule is scheduled to land in the Woomera desert in South Australia in 2031.

Phobos is about 22 kilometres across and circles Mars three times a day. One theory holds that it and the smaller moon, Deimos, formed from debris after a large body struck Mars. The other says they are asteroids that drifted too close and were captured by the planet's gravity.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. We are part of the first sample return mission from the Martian system," Markus Grebenstein, the German space agency's rover chief, said, according to The Guardian.

Japan leads the mission with contributions from NASA, the European Space Agency, France's CNES and Germany's DLR. The Guardian put the cost at $578 million. The launch was the tenth flight of Japan's H3 rocket.

NASA's Perseverance rover has already gathered samples on Mars, but the mission that would have collected them has been effectively cancelled after US funding was halted. China's Tianwen-3 is due to launch around 2028 and could return Martian material as early as 2031.

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Mohammed is accused of being the main planner of the 11 September 2001 attacks, in which hijacked planes brought down the World Trade Center towers and struck the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people. He has been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006.

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Banks and stock markets shut for five days as Durga Puja holidays begin

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The United Commercial Bank PLC ATM booth in Mirpur, Dhaka, in a 2023 file photo. M.parvage, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Banks and financial institutions across Bangladesh closed on Tuesday for five straight days, combining the Durga Puja public holiday with the weekly weekend. Trading on the Dhaka and Chattogram stock exchanges is also suspended.

The closure runs from Tuesday 20 October to Saturday 24 October. Branches and the two bourses are due to reopen on Sunday 25 October.

Bangladesh Bank set the schedule in a circular issued by its Supervisory Data Management and Analytics Department under Section 45 of the Bank Companies Act 1991. The three-day festival holiday covers 20 to 22 October, followed by the usual Friday and Saturday weekend.

Banks stayed open on Saturday 17 October, normally a weekly holiday, so that customers could complete transactions before the break.

Cash machines, internet banking and mobile financial services will keep running while branches are shut. With over-the-counter service unavailable for five days, customers are likely to depend more on ATMs, and queues may build at booths in busy areas.

Branches and booths at seaports, land ports and airports will provide limited services so that import and export work continues. Bangladesh Bank asked the banks to coordinate with local administrations, port authorities and customs officials.

The government announced the 20 to 22 October public holiday on 7 October, and later declared 17 October a working day to make up for the time off.