A rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft was originally due to blast off on Wednesday
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday the postponement of the launch of its "Hope" Mars probe due to weather conditions at Japan's Tanegashima Space Center.
The UAE government said on Twitter Tuesday there would be a "delay of the Emirates Mars Mission's Hope Probe launch due to the weather conditions" at the remote Japanese launch site.
A rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft had originally been due to blast off at 5:51 am Japan time Wednesday (2051 GMT Tuesday).
The new launch time was set for 5:43 am Japan time Friday (2043 GMT Thursday).
The Emirati project is one of three racing to Mars, including Tianwen-1 from China and Mars 2020 from the United States, taking advantage of the period when the Earth and Mars are nearest: some 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) apart.
The UAE, which is made up of seven emirates, is set to be the first Arab nation to send a probe to Mars.
"Hope" — or Al-Amal in Arabic — is expected to reach Mars's orbit by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE.
Once there, it will loop the planet for a whole Martian year — 687 days.
The objective of the UAE Mars mission is to provide a comprehensive image of the weather dynamics in the Red Planet's atmosphere and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs.
World has changed and we don't want an emperor, Lula tells reporters when asked about possible BRICS tariff
Boakai, who, like most Liberians, speaks English as first language, tells US president he has been educated in his...
This is the third Jaguar fighter jet crash in India this year
Indian PM Modi expresses condolences, announces compensation for victims' families and injured
Emirati officials say misleading media reports have no legal basis and may face legal action
Announcement of this year's prize will be made on October 10 at Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo