The UAE successfully launches Mars probe, making history for the Arab world

The UAE successfully launches Mars probe, making history for the Arab world

An Emirati walks past a screen displaying the "Hope" Mars probe at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai on July 19, 2020, ahead of it's expected launch from Japan. The probe is one of three racing to the Red Planet, with Chinese and US rockets also taking advantage of the Earth and Mars being unusually close: a mere hop of 55 million kilometres (34 million miles).

GIUSEPPE CACACE | AFP via Getty Images

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates “” The UAE has successfully launched its Mars probe, named Hope, making history as the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. 

"We have lift-off. H2A, the rocket carrying the Hope Probe to space, has launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan," the official account Hope Mars Mission tweeted early Monday morning. "The Hope Probe is the culmination of every single step that humans have taken throughout history to explore the unknown depths of space."

Hope launched from the Japanese space center on Sunday, having been delayed from the previous week due to poor weather conditions. Within a few hours of liftoff, the ground segment at Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre established two-way communication with the probe. 

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover tweeted to the Hope mission: "Congratulations