# Japan’s Phobos mission could unlock secrets of the Solar System

https://mins.news/en/video/107506

- CNA, 2026-10-20 08:06 UTC
- Science
- Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f1ym_Cu8iE

> A Japanese spacecraft is heading to Phobos, one of Mars’s moons, on a world-first mission to collect samples that could help explain the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth. Its unmanned MMX probe launched aboard an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. JAXA said it received signals as expected and the spacecraft is operating normally.

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- [Japan launches MMX probe on mission to retrieve samples from Phobos](https://mins.news/en/item/107579) — euronews, 2026-10-20
- [Japan’s MMX probe sets course for Mars moon Phobos](https://mins.news/en/item/107429) — DW, 2026-10-20
- [Japan launches mission to retrieve samples from Mars’ moon Phobos](https://mins.news/en/item/107387) — Ars Technica, 2026-10-20
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- [Mission launches from Japan to collect a sample from Mars’s moon](https://mins.news/en/video/107035) — BBC News, 2026-10-19
- [Japan launches MMX probe to collect first soil samples from Phobos](https://mins.news/en/item/106997) — TASS, 2026-10-19
- [Japan launches mission to return samples from Mars moon](https://mins.news/en/item/106852) — Reuters, 2026-10-19
