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Martian Moon eXplorer (MMX)
H3-24, flown by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
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Launches / H3-24
H3-24, flown by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
This is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' 3rd launch of 2026, and its 59th in all.
Counting every operator, it is the 228th orbital launch attempt anywhere in 2026, and the third from Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
MMX is a Japanese scientific mission to land on Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, to collect samples before bringing them back to Earth. The mission includes a small French/German rover to explore the surface of Phobos.
The H3 Launch Vehicle is an expendable launch system in development in Japan. Each H3 booster configuration has a two-digit and a letter designation that indicates the features of that configuration. The first digit represents the number of LE-9 engines on the main stage, either "2" or "3". The second digit indicates the number of SRB-3 solid rocket boosters attached to the base of the rocket, and can be "0", "2" or "4". All layouts of solid boosters are symmetrical. The letter in the end shows the length of the payload fairing, either short "S" or long "L". For example, an H3-24L has two engines, four solid rocket boosters, and a long fairing, whereas an H3-30S has three engines, no solid rocket boosters, and a short fairing.
One flight so far, successful.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group. MHI's products include aerospace components, air conditioners, aircraft, automotive components, forklift trucks, hydraulic equipment, machine tools, missiles, power generation equipment, printing machines, ships and space launch vehicles. Through its defense-related activities, it is the world's 23rd-largest defense contractor measured by 2011 defense revenues and the largest based in Japan.
58 launches so far, 56 of them successful. The last 2 in a row went to plan.
It goes up from Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan.
A launch that clears the horizon is visible for hundreds of miles. Flyby takes this rocket’s trajectory and your location and tells you whether it comes over you, when, and which way to face.
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