The United Arab Emirates has successfully launched the Al Amal (“Hope”) probe to Mars, the U.A.E. mission announced today, and said that communication has already been established with the Hope Probe. “Launch process complete: The Hope Probe has successfully separated from the launch vehicle,” the mission said on its official Twitter account, which broadcast the launch live. Hope was launched from the space center on the Japanese island of Tanegashima Sunday at 21:58 GMT (1:58 a.m. Monday, U.A.E. time), using a Mitsubishi H-IIA booster.
“Two-way communication established. The ground segment has received and communicated the first signals with the Hope Probe,” the mission stated on Twitter shortly after the launch. The launch had been scheduled for July 14, but was postponed twice because of bad weather.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine released this statement: “On behalf of NASA, I congratulate our friends in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) on the launch of the Emirates Mars Mission, Hope. Today marks the beginning of the U.A.E.’s journey to Mars with the ultimate goal of human habitation of the Red Planet.”
The Hope Probe is expected to reach Mars in February 2021, and begin to study Mars’ atmosphere, collecting data for two years, with a possible extension of the mission until 2025.