The UAE made history by successfully launching its spacecraft ‘Al Amal’ (Hope Probe) towards Mars from a Japanese launch centre, marking the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

The unmanned probe, named Al Amal or Hope, weighing 1.3 tonnes was launched from the H-2A rocket from Japan’s remote Tanegashima spaceport.

The launch of the probe had twice been delayed because of bad weather.

Key points regarding the mission

‘Hope’ will travel 493.5 million km over seven months to reach Mars’ orbit in February 2021, coinciding with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations to mark the historic union of the Emirates.

Unlike the two other Mars ventures scheduled for this year, it will not land on the Red Planet, but instead orbit it for a whole Martian year, or 687 days.

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) will help answer key questions about the global Martian atmosphere and the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of one Martian year.

Several dozen probes – most of them American – have set off for Mars since the 1960s. Many never made it that far, or failed to land.

India successfully launched the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan on November 5, 2013. 

Other Mars missions planned for this year:

China to launch Tianwen-1

China has named its first Mars exploration mission to be launched later this year as Tianwen-1. 

China’s Mars mission plans to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission. China National Space Administration (CNSA) named the Mars mission as ‘Tianwen’, which means heavenly questions, a poem written by China’s well known poet Qu Yuan. 

The CNSA has said that all of China’s planetary exploration missions in the future will be named the Tianwen series, signifying the Chinese nation’s perseverance in pursuing truth and science and exploring nature and the universe.

US to launch Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 spacecraft with its Perseverance Rover will launch on an Atlas V-541 rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas V is one of the largest rockets available for interplanetary flight. This is the same type of rocket that launched the InSight and Curiosity to Mars. The launch vehicle is provided by United Launch Alliance, Centennial Colorado.

The launch period is approximately three weeks, from July 30 to August 15.

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