First Arab space mission to Mars set for launch Friday

First Arab space mission to Mars set for launch Friday

DUBAI -The liftoff of the first Arab space mission to Mars was postponed until Friday due to bad weather at the Japanese launch site.

Heavy rain has fallen for more than a week in large areas of Japan, triggering mudslides and floods and killing more than 70 people, most of them on the southern main island of Kyushu.

The unmanned probe named Al-Amal “” Arabic for Hope “” is now to take off after a two-day delay, marking the next step in the United Arab Emirates' ambitious space programme.

The UAE, made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and megacity Dubai, has nine functioning satellites in orbit, with plans to launch another eight in coming years.

In September, it sent the first Emirati into space “” Hazza al-Mansouri, who was part of a three-member crew. They blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan, returning home after an eight-day mission in which he became the first Arab to visit the International Space Station.

But the UAE's ambitions go well beyond that, with a goal of building a human settlement on Mars by 2117.

In the meantime, it plans to create a white-domed "Science City“ in the deserts outside Dubai to simulate Martian conditions