Arab world’s first mission to Mars will launch from Japan in 2020

ABU DHABI // The Arab world’s first mission to Mars will begin the 62 million kilometre journey to the Red Planet from an island in south Japan.

The UAE’s unmanned probe, named Hope, is set to launch from the Tanegashima Space Centre in July 2020 after the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre announced on Tuesday that they would use a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rocket to send the satellite into orbit.

The Japanese company was chosen from 10 possible launch service providers across the globe after a thorough vetting process, said Salem Al Marri, assistant director-general of scientific and technology affairs at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

“When we narrowed it down we saw the Japanese were second-to-none in terms of reliability and schedule assurance, which is important as the mission is very time critical, ” said Mr Al Marri.

To realise plans to send the probe to Mars by 2021 so it coincides with the country’s 50th anniversary, the satellite launch must take place during 2020 – one of the biennial launch windows when Earth and Mars are at their closest.

“Procuring a launch is not like buying a ticket on Emirates or Etihad. There are about 50 launches a year, so they are quite a rare occurrence,” said Mr Al Marri.

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