JAXA's Martian Moons Mission Scheduled for October Launch
The Martian Moons eXploration mission is planned to launch on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center on October 20, 2026 JST. Led by JAXA with international contributions from agencies including ESA and NASA, the spacecraft aims to become the first to orbit Phobos, land on a Martian moon, and return collected surface samples to Earth. The mission is scheduled to arrive at Mars in August 2027, deploy the Idefix rover in 2029, and return its sample return capsule to Earth in 2031 to help clarify the origins of the Martian moons.
Perseverance Rover Surpasses Previous Martian Driving Distance Record
During the 2,006th Martian day of its mission on October 11, 2026, NASA’s Perseverance rover completed a 91.31-meter drive that pushed its cumulative odometry past the 45.16-kilometer distance record previously set by the Opportunity rover. Perseverance and Curiosity remain operational on the Martian surface, with Perseverance continuing to explore Jezero Crater while utilizing its navigation cameras to document the milestone terrain.
Two university-built CubeSats developed through the Pleiades Five program launched toward the International Space Station aboard the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply flight on October 13, 2026. Supported by NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and coordinated by Cal Poly Pomona, the PROVES-Maia and PROVES-Taygeta satellites carry amateur radio payloads, cameras, and radiation-sensing instruments. The open-source educational project is designed to give students practical spaceflight experience while testing intersatellite communication protocols in low Earth orbit.
Written with AI from original reports. Source names and report dates are shown with each story.
The Cosmic Dispatch
Your weekly space newsletter: our latest video, the week’s most-watched Short, one extraordinary discovery, a surprising fact and a simulation to explore.
