UAE launches mission to Mars

Spacecraft Hope took off at the launch site at 6.58am.

The launch marks the beginning of the UAE’s most ambitious space project yet, aimed at studying the weather on Mars as it evolves throughout the planet’s year.

The probe will now spend the next seven months traveling through deep space, periodically correcting its course with a series of engine burns.

It is expected to try and put itself into an elongated orbit around Mars at some point in February, where it will analyse the atmosphere and climate throughout the course of each Martian day.

"This probe represents hope for millions of young Arabs looking for a better future. There is no future, no achievement, no life without hope,” said His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. said. “The Emirates Mars Mission will be a great contribution to human knowledge, a milestone for Arab civilisation, and a real investment for future generations.”

Hope blasts off this morning Image MHI