Tootfinder

A Japanese space probe has successfully set off on its journey to Mars
with plans to land the German-French rover #Idefix on the Martian moon Phobos in 2029.
The uncrewed mission, known as Martian Moons eXploration ( #MMX )
and led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (

Japanese probe with German-French rover Idefix sets off for Mars
A Japanese space probe has successfully set off on its journey to Mars with plans to land the German-French rover Idefix on the Martian moon Phobos in 2029....

In one hour the Japanese #MMX mission - with strong international contributions - should launch to the Martian moon Phobos in order to bring back samples by 2031: webcast with English commentary beginning in a few minutes at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6gzuGa-6c, updates at https://mmx-news.isas.jaxa.jp and many more links down in https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2026/10/16/eine-besonders-dramatische-himmels-qualle ("Proben zur Erde bringen: MMX vor Start zu Marsmond Phobos").

#MMX launch stream is live. Hype! https://www.youtube.com/live/Fn6gzuGa-6c?is=VMY0MytqhY3J9inc

See you #MMX, safe travels.

A strong detection of #MMX with the 20-meter dish by the radio hams a few kilometers from me: https://bsky.app/profile/amsat-dl.org/post/3myb6siqepc2j - and in https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/10/20261020-1_e.html the official launch statement by JAXA, as terse as always and without any details on the state of the spacecraft.