The main craft, a four-legged stationary lander, will then touch down in 2030 to gather at least 10g of soil and rock during a brief two-hour collection window.
A return capsule is scheduled to land in Australia in 2031, with samples subsequently transferred to Japan for analysis.
Findings from the mission will be shared with partners including NASA, ESA, and the French and German space agencies. Scientists harbour cautious optimism that dust gathered from Phobos could carry biological signatures from Mars’s ancient past.
Dr Megan Argo, reader in astrophysics at the University of Lancashire, said: “Although there is no guarantee that Mars ever supported life, we know that the planet was warmer and wetter in the past, potentially creating conditions suitable for it.
