Japan May Postpone Mars Moon Sampling Mission Due to Rocket Problems

Mission MMX belongs to the Japanese space agency (doc. JAXA)

JAKARTA – The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) wants to explore two of Mars' moons, namely Phobos and Deimos. This wish will be realized in the Marsian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission.

The plan is that the MMX robot will be launched in September next year. The rover is expected to land on Phobos in August 2025 to collect at least 10 grams of samples from the surface.

After successfully collecting samples, MMX will fly again and land on Deimos before returning to Earth. This entire process can be successful if the H3 rocket, the launcher for MMX, is able to operate properly.

The H3 rocket was launched for the first time in March this year. However, this flight failed because the second stage of the rocket was unable to receive commands. After the command failed to be received, mission controllers issued a rocket destruction order.

Even though it failed, JAXA will test the rocket again. The plan is that they will launch the H3 for the second time in the same month, namely March, next year with more thorough preparations.

The results of this second launch will determine the future of the MMX project. If the launch of H3 is successful, MMX can be implemented according to the predetermined schedule. However, if the opposite happens, MMX may be delayed until 2026.

The H3 rocket will be JAXA's hope for now, moreover this rocket is being prepared to replace the H-IIA rocket which will stop being used next year. It is not yet known whether JAXA is considering rockets from other space agencies, but currently they want to rely on the H3.