Check out our new CG video for the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission! This was first shown during our online talks, but is now available on #JAXA YouTube. From launch to sampling and the journey home, we cannot wait for the real journey! 🎥 Hi-Res:

On the doorstep of #ISAS is the Sagamihara City Museum planetarium, which is showing the full-dome move, “MMX: Martian Moons eXploration” until 09/30! The #MMX spacecraft looks magnificent sweeping across the domed screen towards Phobos. Museum website:

Did you know that MMX will carry a pneumatic sampler developed by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin Company, in the USA? This technology recently had a great first test on the Blue Ghost lunar lander. Kris Zacny talks about how the team became experts in sampling planets & moons!.

The National Museum of Emerging Science & Innovation (Miraikan) is now hosting a special exhibit “To the Moon and Beyond”. The half-sized MMX spacecraft model is on display and suspended for viewing at all angles. Can you spot each of our instruments? 👀

Together with the 35th International Symposium on Space Technology & Science (ISTS), the International Space Expo was held at Tokushima! The JAXA exhibition booth introduced our mission with a half-scale model of MMX 🛰️ The exhibition hall will be open to the public 07/12~07/16.

It’s the commemorative 100th issue for agency magazine “JAXA’s”! Turning the cover will reveal a large photo of the #MMX spacecraft during development, and you can find an interview (in Japanese) with MMX Project Manager Kawakatsu Yasuhiro. Do check out the web version!.

At the Japan-Germany event at the Osaka #Expo2025, MMX Project Manager Kawakatsu stepped on stage with Dr Pagels-Kerp from DLR. In the background, you can see a CG image of MMX approaching Phobos, and a model of the IDEFIX MMX rover developed by DLR/CNES joined them on stage!.

Part 2 of our “MMX Aims for Phobos!” series is now out in the June #ISASNews (No. 531). MMX Project Supervising Scientist Kuramoto Kiyoshi takes us through “The Science of MMX”, plunging into the detail of how to explore the origin of the Martian moons (in Japanese).

We’re on the cover! The June edition of #ISASNews features a photograph of the #MMX spacecraft, showing the return and exploration modules after the thermal vacuum test. Heading onwards, the propulsion module will be attached and the spacecraft will undergo a mechanical test.

Earlier this month was Hayabusa Week (6/8~15)! The Communication Hall at the JAXA Sagamihara Campus focussed on #MMX! Look at all these amazing messages of support that we received! The entire team is now working harder than ever towards the launch next year 🚀💪

A delegation from Switzerland visited ISAS recently, and took a look at our 1:10 scale model of the MMX spacecraft on display in the Communication Hall! Elizabeth Tasker (international outreach) described the mission, and how the spacecraft will collect a sample from Phobos ⚒️.

At the #EXPO2025 in Osaka tomorrow, the JAXA Exploration Technology Exhibition will be held at the Future Life Village Pavilion! The #MMX sampling instrument will be explained, and you can see a model of the spacecraft on display. If you’re visiting the EXPO, please do visit!.

On June 8th, MMX Engineer Sawada Hirotaka took to the stage for a public talk during “Hayabusa Week”. Based on his experience with building the asteroid sampler for Hayabusa2, Sawada shared the technical challenges and developments for grabbing a piece of a Martian moon with MMX!

Today was the last day of the #MMX conference! Starting with the general meeting on Day 1, each development progress and challenge has been shared from mission equipment, operations plans, and ground systems. Q&A and enthusiastic discussion has filled the venue and online chats!

The second #MMX Conference is currently underway at the JAXA Sagamihara Campus. The MMX team from Japan and abroad are engaged in a lively discussion about the current progress 💪. The photo shows Project Manager Kawakatsu Yasuhiro, opening the meeting with a status overview 🎤.

The May 2025 issue of “ISAS News” also features an interview with MMX Project member Kajitani Iori in the section “Space, Dream, Human”. It’s a wonderful article titled “Living your own special life” (in Japanese).

The May 2025 issue of “ISAS News” begins a new series, “MMX aims for Phobos! The World’s First Martian Moon Sample Return Mission” 🌚. The first instalment is by Project Manager Kawakatsu Yasuhiro, looking at the goals of the mission 🎯🛰️ (in Japanese).

The NHK TECH EXPO 2025 was recently held in Shibuya. An exhibition booth for MMX was included, where visitors could see the development of our SHV cameras (developed by NHK), as well as CG videos of MMX, AR content, and explanations from the exhibit staff!

Our partners @DLR_EN who developed with @CNES the MMX rover, IDEFIX, have created a beautiful animation of the MMX mission! Follow the MMX spacecraft on the journey to the Martian sphere, analyse the moons, collect samples, and watch IDEFIX explore Phobos!

MMX is undergoing a thermal vacuum test, in which the spacecraft is placed in a vacuum chamber where the environment simulates outer space and the operation for each of the onboard instruments is checked. The return and exploration modules are ready to be tested in this photo!

On May 6, the 2025 Space Science 🛰️ public lectures were held, with a talk titled “MMX Aims for Phobos”! Photos of our MMX team members at the event can be seen in the ISAS Gallery 🖼️ (link below).