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# How to watch JAXA's MMX Mars moon launch: date, time and livestream
- URL: https://engineerpal.com/jaxa-mmx-launch-livestream/
- Published: 2026-10-17T15:42:25.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-17T15:42:25.000Z
- Description: JAXA's H3 rocket is set to launch the MMX Phobos sample-return mission Oct. 19 at 3:41 p.m. EDT, streaming live on JAXA's YouTube channel.
- Author: Leo Grant
- Tags: Space, JAXA, MMX, Phobos, H3

Japan's space agency is set to launch its Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft on Monday (Oct. 19) at 3:41 p.m. EDT (12:41 p.m. PDT; 1941 UTC) on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, [according to JAXA](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/20260820-1%5Fe.html?ref=engineerpal.com).

In Japan, liftoff is at 4:41 a.m. JST on Tuesday (Oct. 20), the date [JAXA uses in its launch schedule](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/20260820-1%5Fe.html?ref=engineerpal.com). The rocket, H3 flight No. 10, will fly from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex.

JAXA will stream the launch on its [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@JAXA-HQ/live?ref=engineerpal.com) and on [Niconico Live](https://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv351248880?ref=engineerpal.com) from about 55 minutes before liftoff to about 75 minutes after, [according to its broadcast page](https://fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/mmx%5Fh3f10/live-public%5Fviewing.html?ref=engineerpal.com). That's roughly 2:46 to 4:56 p.m. EDT (11:46 a.m. to 1:56 p.m. PDT; 1846 to 2056 UTC). The official livestream is embedded below.

JAXA's livestream of the H3 flight No. 10 launch. Video: JAXA

As of Saturday (Oct. 17), [JAXA's broadcast page](https://fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/mmx%5Fh3f10/live-public%5Fviewing.html?ref=engineerpal.com) listed the direct YouTube link as "coming soon." [ESA says](https://www.esa.int/Science%5FExploration/Space%5FScience/Mars%5Fmoon%5Flander%5Fset%5Fto%5Flaunch%5Fon%5F19%5FOctober?ref=engineerpal.com) coverage will be in Japanese and English; JAXA's own broadcast page does not list a language. JAXA says the broadcast could be postponed, retimed or suspended, and that internet streams run slightly behind real time.

MMX is a sample-return mission to Phobos, one of [Mars's two moons](https://www.esa.int/Science%5FExploration/Space%5FScience/Mars%5Fmoon%5Flander%5Fset%5Fto%5Flaunch%5Fon%5F19%5FOctober?ref=engineerpal.com). [JAXA plans](https://www.mmx.jaxa.jp/en/?ref=engineerpal.com) to "collect a 10g sample through two soft-landing operations" and return it to Earth in 2031, with the capsule recovered in Australia. [JAXA's launch plan](https://www.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/files/jaxa20260820-1%5F01.pdf?ref=engineerpal.com) (PDF, in Japanese) lists the spacecraft's launch mass as 4,480 kg.

According to [ESA](https://www.esa.int/Science%5FExploration/Space%5FScience/Mars%5Fmoon%5Flander%5Fset%5Fto%5Flaunch%5Fon%5F19%5FOctober?ref=engineerpal.com), MMX should reach Mars orbit in August 2027, release the 25 kg Idefix rover in early 2029, and land on Phobos in 2030\. That landing falls within [JAXA's](https://www.mmx.jaxa.jp/en/?ref=engineerpal.com) 2027–2030 Phobos phase. Idefix comes from France's CNES and Germany's DLR, according to [JAXA's launch plan](https://www.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/files/jaxa20260820-1%5F01.pdf?ref=engineerpal.com).

"The data and samples returned by MMX are a window to study the evolution of Mars and the Solar System," ESA MMX project scientist Elliot Sefton-Nash said in an [ESA release](https://www.esa.int/Science%5FExploration/Space%5FScience/Mars%5Fmoon%5Flander%5Fset%5Fto%5Flaunch%5Fon%5F19%5FOctober?ref=engineerpal.com).

The rocket flies in the H3-24L configuration, with two LE-9 main engines, four SRB-3 solid boosters and a long fairing, per [JAXA's launch plan](https://www.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/files/jaxa20260820-1%5F01.pdf?ref=engineerpal.com). The plan's flight timeline assumes the Oct. 20 JST launch date, and JAXA notes that later events shift with the date:

- 3:41 p.m. EDT (12:41 p.m. PDT; 1941 UTC): liftoff
- About 3:43 p.m. EDT (12:43 p.m. PDT; 1943 UTC): the four solid boosters separate, just under two minutes into flight
- About 4:52 p.m. EDT (1:52 p.m. PDT; 2052 UTC): MMX separates onto a Mars transfer orbit, 592 km up

JAXA's [flight-sequence animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6JQpujO4c&ref=engineerpal.com) shows each step.

If Monday's attempt slips, JAXA has [reserved Oct. 21 to Nov. 7](https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/08/20260820-1%5Fe.html?ref=engineerpal.com), Japan time, and says the launch time may vary in that period. It has not published reserve-day times.

A [Japan Coast Guard navigational warning](https://www6.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/05kanku/anzen/0500%5F20261002152204054%5FJA%5F212%5FNOR.html?ref=engineerpal.com) covers reserve days through Nov. 7 with a launch band of about 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. JST. That is a maritime hazard notice, not a JAXA launch time, and the Coast Guard tells mariners to check NAVTEX warnings for the latest reserve-day times.

For US viewers, that hazard band falls the previous afternoon: about 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 to 2:30 p.m. PDT; 1930 to 2130 UTC) through Oct. 31\. US clocks fall back on Nov. 1, so from then through Nov. 6 it is about 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST; 1930 to 2130 UTC).

After launch, [ESA plans](https://www.esa.int/Science%5FExploration/Space%5FScience/Mars%5Fmoon%5Flander%5Fset%5Fto%5Flaunch%5Fon%5F19%5FOctober?ref=engineerpal.com) an image release confirming the launch on Oct. 20\. MMX then begins a cruise of about a year, with Mars orbit insertion expected in August 2027.