Japan launched an uncrewed spacecraft toward the Martian moon Phobos on Tuesday on a groundbreaking mission intended to become the first ever to collect samples from the small rocky body and return them to Earth for analysis.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, sent the Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft aloft aboard an H3 rocket before dawn from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.
JAXA expects the spacecraft to reach Mars in August 2027 and return the samples to Earth in 2031. Space agency officials hope the mission will shed light on the origins of the two moons of Mars and deepen the scientific understanding of the early stages of our solar system.
Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons, orbits the planet three times a day. It features an irregular shape with approximate dimensions of 27 by 22 by 18 kilometers, or 17 by 14 by 11 miles, and maintains an orbit roughly 6,000 kilometers above the Martian surface.
Through this mission, JAXA aims to collect a minimum of 10 grams of material from the moon's surface and bring it back for laboratory examination.
Tuesday's launch also marked a significant milestone as the first interplanetary mission for Japan's flagship H3 rocket. The launcher suffered a high-profile failure on its inaugural flight in 2023 when the second-stage engine failed to ignite, but it has since rebounded to complete a series of successful launches.