Dubai (AFP)
The United Arab Emirates announced the postponement of the launch of the "Hope" probe to Mars, which was scheduled Tuesday at 20:51 GMT from a space center in Japan, due to bad weather.
"The United Arab Emirates Space Agency and the Mohammed ben Rachid space center, in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announce that the launch of the" Hope "probe has been postponed due to (bad) weather conditions," said a government tweet. emirati.
The launch from the Japanese space center Tanegashima was rescheduled for Thursday at 08:43 GMT, the same source said.
The UAE program is one of three ongoing projects towards the red planet, alongside the Tianwen-1 from China and March 2020 from the United States, which take advantage of the period when Earth and Mars are closest: to barely 55 million kilometers apart.
"Hope" - "Al-Amal" in Arabic or "Hope" in English - is expected to reach the orbit of Mars by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven members led by sheikhs.
Once in orbit, it will circle the planet for an entire Martian year, or 687 days. The probe should detach from the launch vehicle about an hour after takeoff.
© 2020 AFP