NASA announced its specific contributions to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration mission, which is scheduled to launch on October 19, 2026. The mission aims to study Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos and return a surface sample of Phobos to Earth.
Mission Objectives and Timeline
The MMX spacecraft is targeting launch from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 3:41 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 (4:41 a.m. JST on Tuesday, Oct. 20). The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2027 to begin its survey of the Red Planet's two moons.
After surveying Phobos in detail, the spacecraft will collect a sample of the moon’s surface no earlier than December 2028 and deliver it to Earth in 2031. Scientists have long debated whether Phobos and Deimos are the remains of a massive impact on Mars or ancient asteroids captured by gravity.
NASA Hardware and Support Contributions
NASA’s contributions include the Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma rays and Neutrons spectrograph instrument, developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, to help measure neutrons and gamma rays emitted from the moon's surface. The agency also provided the Pneumatic Sampler technology demonstration developed by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, which uses high-pressure nitrogen gas to gather surface material.
Additionally, NASA is providing communications and navigation support from its Deep Space Network and funding United States scientists participating on the MMX science team. NASA will obtain and curate about 15% of the total returned sample at its Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Lab in Houston.
Key facts and where they come from
- The MMX spacecraft is scheduled to launch on October 19, 2026.
The MMX spacecraft is targeting launch from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 3:41 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 19 (4:41 a.m. JST on Tuesday, Oct. 20).
- NASA is contributing scientific instruments, Deep Space Network support, and sample curation.
NASA’s contributions to the mission include the Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma rays and Neutrons (MEGANE) spectrograph instrument, the Pneumatic Sampler (P-Sampler) technology demonstration, and communications and navigation support from the agency’s Deep Space Network
- NASA will curate approximately 15% of the returned sample.
NASA will obtain and curate about 15% of the total returned sample at the agency’s Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Lab in Houston
- The MMX spacecraft is expected to arrive at Mars in August 2027 and deliver a sample to Earth in 2031.
The MMX spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2027 to begin its survey of the Red Planet’s two moons. After surveying Phobos in detail, the spacecraft will collect a sample of the moon’s surface no earlier than December 2028 and deliver it to Earth in 2031.