German-French rover ‘Idefix’ heads for a Martian moon – Japanese mission launched

A rover developed in Germany and France set off for Mars on 19 October 2026. It is travelling on board the successfully launched Japanese space probe MMX (Martian Moons eXploration). Named Idefix, the rover was developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French space agency CNES. It will explore the surface of the Martian moon Phobos with a view to providing new insights into how Mars’ moons formed.