Al-Amal (Hope) was launched at 6.58 a.m. local time (11:58 p.m. Sunday evening Belgian time) with an H2A202 launch vehicle that is part of the H-IIA launch vehicle family. It is developed and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Al-Amal is planned to enter orbit around Mars in February, as the first Arab mission to another planet.
The probe will map the Martian atmosphere for about two years. Among other things, the explorer must help to clarify how hydrogen and oxygen disappear from the thin atmosphere of Mars. It flies into space, so that Mars no longer has a chance at life like on Earth.
But the mission is mainly intended to put the Emirates on the map. The country sees science and technology as a source of income for the future when oil runs out. The UAE has had its own space agency since 2014, and last year a man from the country went to space for the first time. Astronaut Hazza al-Mansoeri spent about a week in the International Space Station.
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