Regarding the plan "MMX" to bring back surface sand from the Martian moon, a proposal to postpone the launch of the probe for two years was compiled by a committee of the Cabinet Office on the 2th.
JAXA = The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's "MMX" is a world-first project that will land a spacecraft on the Martian moon "Phobos" and bring back sand from the surface to investigate the origin of the satellite, etc., if successful, and was planned to launch the probe in the next fiscal year, 2024.
On May 5, the Cabinet Office's Space Policy Committee met in Tokyo, and a draft revision of the schedule for specific development plans and schedules was compiled in the Basic Space Plan, which sets out the basic principles of the country's space policy.
Among them, a proposal was included to delay the launch date of MMX by two years from the originally scheduled FY2024 to FY2.
The committee says that the reason for this is that the new rocket "H2026", which is scheduled to launch the probe, failed to launch the first rocket in March, and the schedule after the second rocket has been delayed, and the orbit of the satellite scheduled to land.
In addition, the LUPEX project, which explores resources such as water on the moon, was expected to be delayed by about one year.
The proposed revisions will be formally decided at the national space strategy headquarters, which will be held later this year.