"To the people of the United Arab Emirates, the Arab and Muslim nations, we announce the successful entry into orbit around Mars. Praise be to God."

It is in these terms that Omran Sharaf, the person in charge of the project of the first Arab space mission targeting the red planet greeted, Tuesday, February 9, the placement in orbit of the Emirati probe "Al-Amal" (Hope).

"What you have accomplished is an honor for your nation. I want to congratulate you," said Mohammed ben Zayed, said MBZ, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, capital of the Emirates of which he is the strong man.  

The feat is historic for this country which made this space feat coincide with the 50th anniversary, in 2021, of the unification of the seven emirates within the federation of the United Arab Emirates. 

"This is a great success for the Emirates, which seek to position itself as a new pole of power not only in the Gulf but on an international scale. They have succeeded in the feat of integrating the very closed circle of aerospace powers, in just six years, the Emirati space agency was created in 2014 ", underlines Karim Sader, consultant specializing in the Gulf, interviewed by France 24.  

Asserting itself in the field of technology

Often associated in the West with immense reserves of hydrocarbons and petrodollars, oversized skyscrapers and luxurious shopping centers, the Emirates, which has already sent an astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), wants to assert itself in the field technologies.

This state seeks to build an international image through soft power, and discreet and patient work that is bearing fruit in several areas, explains Karim Sader.

"Their space success is the fruit of the enthusiasm and ambitions of MBZ and Mohamed al-Maktoum who absolutely want to make the Emirates a regional hub in terms of technology and aerospace," he says. that the country has embarked on research projects for several years, devoting significant budgets to it, whether in the field of new technologies and renewable energies ".

And to add: "In recent years, it is Qatar which has been at the forefront of the media scene, celebrated exactly ten years ago for having succeeded in offering, for the first time, the organization of the football world to the Arab world. Today, it is the United Arab Emirates which overtakes its Qatari rival by becoming the first Arab country to participate, with success, in the rush to Mars. "

To date, only the United States, India, Russia and the European Space Agency have successfully placed probes around the Red Planet.

Geopolitical ambitions and "national pride" 

This breakthrough, hailed by NASA, is not only a matter of communication and soft power for Abu Dhabi, which was able to launch its first satellite entirely manufactured on the national territory in 2018. "While being modern and open to communication globalization, MBZ, on which the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman is also inspired, is a nationalist who wants to cultivate the feeling of national pride of the population, and this space project is the illustration of it ".

"There is something about the Emiratis that sets them apart from their neighbors who are often dependent on foreign powers, and that is the fact that they themselves have built and developed their industrial capacities," he insists. the employees of the space agency which set up this mission are almost all Emiratis, naturalized or not, with a woman, Sarah al-Amiri, at their head ".

This mission to Mars allows the Emirates "to reveal itself differently in the eyes of the world", in fields other than conventional military.

It is not the first time that they are at the forefront thanks to their national industry, continues Karim Sader.

"This is already the case in the field of defense, which allows them to be active in several theaters of operations whether in Libya or Yemen". 

Geostrategic ambitions which coexist with the spatial ambitions of the wealthy Gulf State which is preparing to build a giant "scientific city" in the Emirati desert, on the outskirts of Dubai.

Objective: to simulate Martian conditions and develop the technology necessary to colonize the planet Mars.

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