Dubai, United Arab Emirates · 9 February 2021
The United Arab Emirates' Hope probe (Al-Amal) successfully entered Mars orbit at 7:42 p.m. UAE time (15:42 UTC) on 9 February 2021, making the UAE the fifth nation in history to reach Mars and the first from the Arab world to achieve an interplanetary mission. Ground control at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai received the first signal confirming the successful orbit insertion at 8:08 p.m. UAE time.
The arrival was the culmination of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), a project conceived, funded, and led by the UAE that launched on 20 July 2020 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket.
The Critical Mars Orbit Insertion
The Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) manoeuvre was considered the most critical and dangerous phase of the entire mission. The spacecraft needed to perform a 27-minute burn of its six Delta V thrusters to slow from approximately 121,000 km/h to 18,000 km/h — a deceleration of over 100,000 km/h — allowing Mars' gravity to capture the probe into orbit.
The complexity of the manoeuvre was compounded by the 11-minute one-way communication delay between Earth and Mars, meaning that the spacecraft had to execute the burn autonomously. There was no opportunity for real-time intervention from ground control.
Mission Objectives: A Complete Picture of the Martian Atmosphere
Unlike other Mars missions that focus on specific surface locations, the Hope probe was designed to provide a comprehensive, global picture of the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit ranging from 20,000 to 43,000 km above the Martian surface — significantly higher than most Mars orbiters — giving it a unique vantage point to observe the entire planet's atmosphere throughout a full daily cycle.
The mission's three scientific instruments are:
- Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI): A multi-band camera capable of capturing 12-megapixel images in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, used to study water ice and dust in the Martian atmosphere.
- Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS): An infrared spectrometer that measures dust, water vapour, and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, providing data on energy balance and atmospheric dynamics.
- Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS): A far-ultraviolet spectrometer that measures hydrogen and oxygen in the Martian upper atmosphere, helping scientists understand atmospheric escape — the process by which Mars loses its atmosphere to space.
A Mission Timed for the Golden Jubilee
The arrival of the Hope probe at Mars was intentionally timed to coincide with the UAE's Golden Jubilee — the 50th anniversary of the nation's formation in 1971. The mission was announced in 2014 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as part of a broader national strategy to develop the UAE's science and technology capabilities and diversify its economy beyond oil.
The mission was developed on an accelerated timeline, with the UAE team given just six years to design, build, and launch the spacecraft — a significantly shorter development period than typical Mars missions. To meet this timeline, the UAE partnered with the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Arizona State University, and the University of California, Berkeley, in a knowledge-transfer arrangement that saw Emirati engineers work alongside experienced American space scientists.
Building Human Capacity
A central goal of the Emirates Mars Mission was not just scientific discovery but human capital development. The mission team was predominantly Emirati, with women making up approximately 34% of the team — a figure that included many in senior engineering and science roles. The project was designed to inspire a new generation of Arab scientists and engineers and to shift the region's relationship with space from one of consumers of space technology to producers.
The 2021 Mars Fleet
The UAE's Hope probe was the first of three missions to arrive at Mars in February 2021, part of an unprecedented international fleet that took advantage of the favourable Earth-Mars alignment that occurs approximately every 26 months:
| Mission | Country | Arrival Date | Mission Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hope (Al-Amal) | UAE | 9 February 2021 | Orbiter |
| Tianwen-1 | China | 10 February 2021 | Orbiter + Rover |
| Perseverance | USA (NASA) | 18 February 2021 | Rover |
The convergence of these three missions at Mars within a single week represented one of the most remarkable periods in the history of planetary exploration and underscored the growing internationalisation of space exploration beyond the traditional spacefaring powers.
First Images and Scientific Operations
Following orbit insertion, the Hope probe spent several weeks transitioning to its final science orbit and calibrating its instruments. The first image of Mars from the Hope probe was released on 14 February 2021, showing the planet's nightside with the Olympus Mons volcano region visible. The spacecraft began its formal science phase in May 2021, collecting data on the Martian atmosphere across all seasons and times of day.
The data collected by the Hope probe is being shared freely with the global scientific community through the mission's data centre, consistent with the UAE's commitment to open science and international collaboration.
Sources
- Emirates Mars Mission:
- Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre:
- Space.com, "UAE's Hope Mars mission successfully enters orbit" (9 February 2021):
- Wikipedia, "Emirates Mars Mission":
- The Planetary Society, "UAE Hope":
- UAE Media Office, official announcement (9 February 2021)
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