TOKYO - The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Tuesday said it successfully launched a spacecraft on the world's first mission to collect samples, including rocks and sand, from one of Mars' moons.
The probe, carried aboard H3 rocket No. 10 for the Martian Moons Exploration mission, or MMX, successfully separated from the rocket and was placed into its planned orbit, the agency said.
"I believe we were able to place it into the planned orbit with exceptional precision," said Makoto Arita, JAXA's H3 project manager, during a press conference. "I'm very happy that we were able to launch MMX, a project that has attracted worldwide attention."
The rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima, a small island in southwestern Japan, at 4:41 a.m.
The spacecraft will head for Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, which orbits approximately 6,000 kilometers from the surface of the planet and has a diameter of about 20 to 30 km. The probe is scheduled to return to Earth with the samples in July 2031.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also welcomed the successful launch, saying in a social media post on X, "I hope this historic endeavor succeeds" and the spacecraft will successfully collect samples and return to Earth.
The launch was originally slated for 2024, but was postponed after the maiden flight of the H3 rocket failed the previous year.
MMX is a joint international mission to investigate the origins of the Martian moons and develop technologies for future space exploration.
The 4,480-kilogram spacecraft consists of three modules for the journey to Mars, the exploration of Phobos and the return trip. It has four landing legs and stands approximately 5.3 meters tall, with a width of about 9 meters when its solar panels are deployed.
The H3 rocket No. 10 carrying the probe uses a two-engine, four-booster configuration, the most powerful version of the rocket with the greatest propulsion capability.
Under the plan, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Mars in August 2027. A rover jointly developed by French and German teams will then land on Phobos, after which the spacecraft will attempt two landings of its own.
The spacecraft will then observe Deimos, the other moon of Mars, before leaving the planet's orbit in November 2030. On its return to Earth, it will release a capsule containing the collected samples for recovery.
