The MMX space mission, led by the Japanese space agency Jaxa, is due to take off from the Japanese space center on the island of Tanegashima, in the south of the archipelago, from where Japan carries out all its launches.
This international mission plans in particular to bring back to Earth rock samples from Phobos, one of the two natural satellites of the Red Planet, on which the Franco-German rover Idefix must land to take samples.
The mission is the subject of multiple international collaborations with NASA, ESA, French Cnes and its German equivalent as partners, while some dream of colonizing the planet Mars and others look at its moons.