The JAXA MMX mission aims to investigate the origins of the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos and the process of planetary formation in the solar system.
The ESA spacecraft Hera flew past Mars on March 12, 2025, capturing images of the planet and its moon Deimos.
Deimos orbits Mars at an altitude of about 23,400 kilometers and has a diameter of approximately twelve kilometers.
During the closest approach, Hera came within approximately 5000 kilometers of Mars and about 1000 kilometers of Deimos.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch the Martian Moon eXploration (MMX) mission to Phobos and Deimos in September 2024.
Phobos is about 22 kilometers in diameter and Deimos is about 13 kilometers in diameter.
Some scientists propose that Phobos and Deimos may be made up of residual debris from an impact event on Mars.
Aciturri, AIRBUS, Air Liquide, ALTER, Anteral, Applus, Caye, CECOM, CMASA, Deimos, INSYTE, LOGO 2, Mecanizados Especiales, OCCAM, Repsol, Swagelok, Talleres Ramón Clemente, and Tecno Lanema are strategic partners already approved in MIURA 1.
PLD Space, together with Aciturri, AIRBUS, Air Liquide, ALTER, Anteral, Applus, Caye, CECOM, CMASA, Deimos, INSYTE, LOGO 2, Mecanizados Especiales, OCCAM, Repsol, Swagelok, Talleres Ramón Clemente and Tecno Lanema, won the PERTE contract from the Spanish Government to develop a micro launcher.
The MMX rover is part of JAXA's Mars Moon eXploration mission to study Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, and to bring back samples from Phobos.
SpaceX acquired two oil rigs that it renamed Phobos and Deimos with the intent to convert them into offshore launch platforms for its Starship vehicle and later sold the rigs.
SpaceX acquired two oil rigs in 2020 and named them Phobos and Deimos.
Port shipping manifests published in 2023-02-01 show Deimos scheduled to depart Pascagoula on 2023-02-20 and Phobos scheduled to depart on 2023-03-12.
SkyLabs became the provider of OBC and RTU solutions for Deimos' AOCS and beyond through their collaboration agreement.
SkyLabs has signed a Collaboration Agreement with Deimos Elecnor to provide On-Board Computer (OBC) and Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) equipment for Deimos' standalone AOCS product for small satellites.
Deimos' AOCS product provides very high pointing stability, agility, and a competitive price point.
Dr. Tomaž Rotovnik, CEO of SkyLabs, stated that the cooperation with Deimos represents a key milestone for SkyLabs in the small-scale satellite market.
Deimos is developing a modular AOCS for small satellites to meet the demand for rapid procurement of agile and high stability attitude control systems for LEO and Earth Observation missions.
SkyLabs' solution has been recognized by Deimos as enabling the development of leading-edge AOCS products with high configurability and customization for a variety of small satellite missions.
SkyLabs will supply Deimos with picoRTU and NANOhpm-obc as critical components of their innovative modular AOCS.