H3 rocket launches MMX probe from Tanegashima toward Phobos
From the Space digest for 2026-10-20
What happened: The H3 rocket lifted off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41 a.m. local time on October 20 (October 19, 3:41 p.m. Eastern), carrying the MMX probe on a mission toward Phobos, the inner moon of Mars.
What's genuinely new: This is a debut — no prior storyline thread exists in the memory for the MMX mission or this H3 launch, and the window's coverage supplies the first dated record of the launch itself, with the specific liftoff time and site.
Watch: Post-launch confirmation of MMX's departure trajectory toward Phobos, and any published timeline for the mission's cruise to Mars.
Links: Notizie — MMX Mission: H3 Rocket Launches from Tanegashima to Phobos