UAE Unveils Asteroid Belt Probe as Space Sector Tops Dh44 Billion

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of the Supreme Space Council, attended the unveiling of the probe for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA), Gulf News reported. Designed, assembled, and tested within the UAE by a national team of more than 150 specialised engineers and scientists, the probe reached flight readiness in less than two years following an agreement between the UAE Space Agency and Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute.

The probe will be deployed from the MBR Explorer spacecraft during the UAE's second interplanetary mission. The spacecraft will undertake an estimated 5-billion-kilometre journey across the Solar System to survey seven asteroids. In the final stage of the mission, the lander probe is designed to separate and descend autonomously onto the surface of the asteroid 269 Justitia.

Sheikh Hamdan highlighted the expanding economic impact of the industry, stating that the UAE space sector is now valued at more than Dh44 billion. Under the UAE's National Space Strategy 2031, the country aims to double the economic returns generated by the sector and position the nation among the world's top 10 space economies through ongoing investments in research, talent, and domestic advanced technology manufacturing.