Lander Unveiled for Space Mission to 7 Asteroids

The United Arab Emirates Nears Its Second Interplanetary Mission

The United Arab Emirates is close to carrying out its second interplanetary mission.

According to Ambassador Arjan, quoted by Space, the eight-year exploratory mission of the United Arab Emirates with the aim of investigating seven asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, will end with the landing on the surface of the mysterious red asteroid "269 Eustitia".

In a press conference held on October 1 in Abu Dhabi, the members of this project unveiled a replica of the probe, which is half the size of the real one, designed for landing operations. This autonomous probe will travel to space together with the MBRExplorer spacecraft.

The lander, which has been prepared for launch, is kept in a vacuum chamber in Abu Dhabi and will later be transferred to the US state of Colorado to integrate with the main spacecraft developed by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency.

If plans go according to schedule, the spacecraft will launch from Japan in March 2028 to begin the UAE's mission to explore the asteroid belt. This project is a continuation of the UAE's "Hope" orbiter program, which has started surveying the Red Planet since 2021.

During this mission, the MBRExplorer spacecraft will fly past six asteroids at high speed and then reach asteroid 269 Eustitia to enter its orbit. This spacecraft will travel a total of five billion kilometers; A distance equivalent to 125,000 times around the earth.

Along the way, the spacecraft will use the gravity of Venus and Earth to move into deep space and will pass by three asteroids 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera and 13294 Rocax. In the next stage, using the gravity of Mars, it will continue its path towards deep space and pass by the three asteroids 88055 Ghaf, 23871 Usha and 59980 Moza.

In 2036, this spacecraft will reach its final target, the asteroid 269 Eustitia; A celestial body with a diameter of about 50 km, which is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.