UAE likely to send Hope Probe to Mars by 2020, project work 85% complete

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The United Arab Emirates' ambitious mission to Red Planet Mars - Hope Probe - is well on target and is likely to be launched next year. The UAE Space Agency and Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have announced that 85 per cent of the Hope Probe project has been completed. 

Most of the main parts of the project have been completed and are currently undergoing intensive testing to ensure every aspect of the Probe is ready for activation a few months before the launch date, the two space agencies said in a joint statement recently. 

Hope Probe is scheduled to be launched in July 2020. It is planned to reach Mars by 2021 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE.

If the launch is successful, UAE would become the first Arabic and Islamic country to make it to Mars. 

According to Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency: “The Emirates Mars Mission’s Hope Probe is almost complete. The UAE is on the verge of making history, after turning its dream of becoming the first Arabic and Islamic country to send a spacecraft to Mars into reality.

Hope Probe has been developed in accordance with Mars Exploration Programme Analysis Group (MEPAG), the global scientific community which is working on Mars exploration and coordinated with international entities to ensure the best results, the statement from Dubai Media Office said. 

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Key facts about Hope Probe: 

Mission name: Hope Probe

Space agency:  UAE Space Agency and Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
Launch Date: July, 2020
Status: 85 per cent completed.  
Objective: Hope Probe will be the first Mars exploration project to take a global picture of the Martian atmosphere. It will do so by taking an integrated picture of the atmosphere throughout the day and for a long period of time, helping to create a better understanding of the planet’s atmosphere in different seasons of the year.