UAE Mars mission postponed

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has postponed to July 17 the launch of its mission to Mars due to weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, the UAE government announced yesterday afternoon (Tuesday).

Arab world's first interplanetary mission, the UAE’s “Hope Probe” will launch on Friday, July 17 at 12:43am UAE time from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center.

The mission to Mars was due to set off from Japan on Wednesday for a seven-month journey to the red planet where it was due to orbit and send back data about the atmosphere. The UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center Dubai developed and built the Hope Probe.