The United Arab Emirates Space Agency has announced a major extension of its Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), known widely as the Hope Probe, extending operations all the way through 2028, three years beyond its original mission timeline. The announcement was made by Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Space Agency, at a press briefing in Dubai, with backing from Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Space Council.
Originally launched in 2020 and entering orbit around Mars in February 2021, the UAE’s Hope Probe was designed as a two-year mission to study Martian weather and atmospheric dynamics, in particular the interaction between its lower and upper atmosphere. However, after more than five years in orbit, the probe has far exceeded expectations by collecting around 10 terabytes of scientific data and contributing to groundbreaking research on Mars’ climate, auroras and its small moon Deimos.
