UAE's mission to asteroid belt and Venus moves another step closer

The design of the spacecraft and science goals of the mission pass key concept review phase with more details expected soon

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, listen to 'ethical hacker' David Colombo speak at a session at the World Government Summit 2022. Pawan Singh / The National

Colombo, founder and chief executive of the Colombo Technology cyber security company, at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, attends the World Government Summit in Dubai. Photo: Dubai Media Office

Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, at the summit. Photo: Dubai Media Office

George Friedman, founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures, at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

The summit will conclude on Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

A visitor steps on to a self-driving vehicle at the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

Thousands of delegates and hundreds of speakers are attending the summit. Pawan Singh / The National

CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble, left, moderates a panel discussion featuring the UAE's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail Al Mazrouei, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Kurdistan's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. AFP

People arrive at the World Government Summit, being held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

People arrive at the World Government Summit, being held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pawan Singh / The National

A poster shows Elon Musk, a speaker at a previous year's event. Pawan Singh / The National

Delegates at the World Government Summit 2022. Pawan Singh / The National

The conference centre at Expo 2020 Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

The auditorium is one of the major buildings that will remain in place after the world's fair ends. Pawan Singh / The National

The UAE’s ambitious mission to explore the asteroid belt and perform a Venus fly-by is making progress, with the design of the spacecraft and science goals now set.

Ibrahim Al Qasim, deputy director-general of the UAE Space Agency, on Tuesday said that it has passed the mission concept review, though a name for the mission has yet to be finalised. These details will be announced to the public “soon".

Last year, the UAE announced its next space endeavour, only months after its Hope spacecraft reached the orbit around Mars in a historic feat.

The country hopes to explore seven space rocks in the main asteroid belt and attempt a landing on the last one. The spacecraft would slingshot around Venus and then Earth using the planets’ gravity to reach the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

“The MCR [mission concept review] was completed a few weeks ago, so we now know exactly what our project is,” said Mr Al Qasim, on the first day of the World Government Summit.

“We are launching in 2028 and we’re heading to Venus for a fly-by, then coming back to Earth, flying past Mars and then into the asteroid belt.

“We’ve identified the seven asteroids that we are visiting and the final one, which we will be landing on. The science objectives have also been set.”

This will be the UAE’s most challenging space mission yet, with a total journey distance of 3.6 billion kilometres — seven times the distance the Hope probe travelled to reach Mars in February 2021.

Through the project, the space agency hopes to boost the private space sector in the UAE.

Start-ups and established companies will build about 50 per cent of the spacecraft, helping the national economy.

For decades, space programmes were government-run, but now the private sector has become a major player.

Governments are looking to private companies to increase capabilities, for example, the US space agency Nasa is now launching its astronauts into space using SpaceX rockets.

Also at the government summit, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre displayed its Moon rover Rashid.

The space centre has bought services from Japanese private company ispace to deliver the rover to the lunar surface using their lander.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the mission to space later this year from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.

The tiny 10kg rover is undergoing checks, including test drives on the sand dunes of UAE deserts.

The four-wheeled rover can climb over obstacles up to 10 centimetres tall and descend a 20° slope, at speeds of 10cm per second.

Rashid will explore the near side of the Moon, which offers a smoother surface with fewer craters, but the terrain is still unpredictable.

It will land on a site known as the Lacus Somniorum, a Latin phrase that translates to “lake of dreams".

Martian moon captured by Hope probe — in pictures