In brief
The UAE Space Agency’s Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) is slated to leave Earth in the first quarter of 2028. A home‑built lander has passed flight‑readiness tests and will attach to the MBR Explorer, which will visit seven asteroids over an eight‑year, five‑billion‑kilometre journey. The mission aims to study the composition of asteroids like 269 Justitia and boost UAE space expertise and economic growth.
In Abu Dhabi, the UAE Space Agency announced Thursday that the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) is on track to launch in the first quarter of 2028. The plan follows rapid development of a lander built entirely in the UAE, which the agency says has passed all technical and environmental tests to confirm its flight readiness.
Mohsen Al Awadhi, Director of the Space Missions Department, told the Emirates News Agency that the lander will detach from the MBR Explorer and land on the surface of asteroid 269 Justitia, the mission’s seventh target. The mission will visit seven asteroids in total, studying their composition and origins to better understand the early Solar System.
"The lander, one of the mission's major engineering achievements, has passed the necessary technical and environmental tests to verify its flight readiness," said Al Awadhi.
The MBR Explorer has completed a Critical Design Review in 2025 and a System Integration Review in September of the same year. Teams are now integrating subsystems and preparing the lander for final testing before shipment to a launch site in Japan.
Once launched, the spacecraft will travel about five billion kilometres over an eight‑year journey, reaching its first asteroid, 10253 Westerwald, in February 2030. Marathon‑length missions like this are rare and will require careful navigation through a crowded asteroid belt.
Beyond scientific discovery, the UAE sees the project as a long‑term investment in national talent, space industries and new economic opportunities. By fostering domestic engineering capabilities, the agency hopes to create future jobs and encourage private‑sector collaboration in space technology.
With launch preparations progressing, the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt promises to turn the UAE into a key player in planetary science while inspiring a generation of future space explorers.
