The UAE has successfully launched the Arab world’s first Mars mission

The UAE has successfully launched the Arab world’s first Mars mission

(CNN)The United Arab Emirates successfully launched its Mars-bound Hope Probe on Sunday, marking the the Arab world's first interplanetary mission -- and the first of three international missions to the Red Planet this summer.

The Hope Probe took off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, after a delay last week due to bad weather. The solid rocket booster successfully separated from the launch vehicle, and the probe has established two-way communication with the ground segment in Dubai.

The Al Amal probe, as it is called in Arabic, is expected to reach Mars by February 2021. It will be the first time the UAE has orbited Mars, and the probe will stay in orbit for a Martian year -- equivalent to 687 days on Earth -- to gather data about Mars' atmosphere.

"It's an honor to be part of the global efforts to explore deep space," tweeted the official Hope Mars Mission account after the launch. "The Hope Probe is the culmination of every single step that humans have taken throughout history to explore the unknown depths of space."

The United States and China are also embarking on Mars missions this summer. NASA's Perseverance Rover and China's Tianwen 1 are expected to launch