According to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) probe is scheduled to be launched by an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 4:41 a.m. on October 20.
"It's incredibly exciting to be involved in such a great mission," Makoto Arita, JAXA's H3 rocket project manager, told reporters two days before launch.
MMX is a collaborative project between Japan and the French National Space Research Center (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and approximately 20 universities and technology companies.