UAE
The Emirates Mars mission, called Hope probe, reaches Mars' orbit. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/J. Cowart, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO via Flickr.

The UAE has become the first Arab country to reach Mars with the arrival of Hope probe into the planet’s orbit.

The probe has also sent its signal back to Earth just 30min after successfully reaching Mars.

The orbiter was launched on 19 July 2020 and took 204 days and more than 480 million kilometres to enter Mars’ capture orbit. It is now running in an initial ellipse around the planet.

With this, the UAE joins the club of nations, namely the US, the former Soviet Union, Europe and India, to send probes to Mars.

Dubai Deputy Ruler Maktoum Bin Mohammed said on Twitter: “Congratulations to the UAE leaders, its people and everyone around the world on the successful arrival of the Hope probe to Mars.

“Congratulations to the Emirati women and men on their incredible success in making history. Our journey will now continue towards greater achievements.

“We’re immensely proud of our achievement. A journey that began from the desert dunes is now embracing space.

“This is a nation whose leaders believed and invested in a generation that today led us to Mars. A new chapter is born, bringing Arabs to the forefront of science and innovation.”

In addition to Hope, two more unmanned spacecraft from the US and China are set to arrive at Mars over the next several days.