Tech UAE and Mitsubishi sign agreement for asteroid belt mission By Neil Halligan October 11, 2024, 8:44 AM Masanobu Nakatsukasa/The Yomiuri Shimbun via Reuters Connect A Mitsubishi H3 rocket on the launchpad in Japan. The UAE will use the model in its asteroid belt mission UAE asteroid belt mission set for 2028 Third pair-up with Mitsubishi Gathering data on 7 asteroids The UAE has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to provide services for its 2028 mission to the asteroid belt. The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt – the first multiple-asteroid tour and landing mission to the main belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter – will launch the Mohammed Bin Rashid Explorer spacecraft aboard a H3 rocket, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ flagship rocket for satellite and exploration missions. The agreement is the third collaboration between the UAE and the Japanese engineering conglomerate, following the launches of KhalifaSat in 2018 and Hope Probe in 2020. The Emirates Mission to the asteroid belt is a 13-year project, with six years dedicated to spacecraft development and seven to exploring the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The MBR Explorer will gather data during close flybys of six asteroids, before landing on the seventh asteroid, Justitia. The Explorer will measure the surface composition, geology, internal density, temperatures, and thermophysical properties of asteroids in the main belt. This will assess the stages of their surface evolution and history and better identify their water-rich origins. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of the Supreme Space Council, said the “space sector is a gateway to the future and investing in it reinforces the UAE’s leadership in science and technology. “The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt is one of our biggest national projects, reflecting our ambition to build a future rooted in innovation and knowledge for generations to come.” The UAE Space Agency last year launched the “Space Means Business” campaign to highlight business opportunities open to Emirati and international companies in the Mission. The agency has committed to award at least half of the overall contracted mission to private sector companies. The UAE Space Agency is also offering Emirati support to startups, back-office facilities and ongoing mentoring and funding as part of its Space Economic Zones initiative. Oman to acquire its first national satellite New UAE space company to develop 50 satellites per year Halo Space to manufacture capsules in Saudi Arabia The value of the Middle East space sector is expected to hit $75 billion by 2032, according to a white paper, Beyond the Stars: Middle East’s Space Ecosystem on the Move. The region’s space economy trebled over the past decade to an estimated $25 billion last year, the research showed. It is forecast to make up 8.5 percent of the global space economy by 2030. The UAE’s investments in space-related industries are the highest in the region and surpassed $6 billion in 2023.
