JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration lifted off on H3 flight 10 from Tanegashima at 19:41:03 UTC on 19 October (04:41 JST on the 20th). About 71 minutes later the spacecraft separated and reached its planned orbit, JAXA says. MMX should arrive at Mars in August 2027, spend about three years around Mars and touch down on Phobos twice, with the small French–German Idefix rover going down in late 2028 or early 2029. It leaves for Earth in November 2030; a capsule with a planned 10 grams of Phobos should land in Australia in 2031. Our take: if it works, this is the first sample ever from a Martian moon; Russia’s Phobos-Grunt never left Earth orbit in 2011.
71 minafter liftoff: separated, planned orbit
2027arrival at Mars (August)
2031Phobos sample back on Earth