UAE chooses Japanese rocket to launch first Arab spacecraft to Mars
MAR 28, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029693
The National (Abu Dhabi, UAE) : On 22 March, the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) announced that they had chosen a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rocket to launch their first spacecraft to Mars. Named Al-Amal, or Hope, the probe is scheduled for launch in July 2020 so that its Mars arrival will coincide with the UAE’s 50th anniversary in 2021. The 1.5-tonne spacecraft is the fifth built by the MBRSC but the first slated to leave Earth orbit. Designed to study the Martian atmosphere and climate, Hope is the first space mission destined for Mars developed by an Arab nation.
© 2016 American Institute of Physics
