Elon Musk congratulates UAE for successful Hope probe launch

Elon Musk congratulates UAE for successful Hope probe launch

The probe took off at 1:58 UAE time from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre.





Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of space exploration company Space X, tweeted his congratulations to the UAE for the successful launch of the Hope probe to Mars.

Congratulations MHI & UAE!

- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2020

Musk, who is also the co-founder and early investor of Tesla, wrote on Twitter: "Congratulations, MHI and UAE", referring to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which operated the H-IIA F42 rocket on which the probe shot off to the Red Planet.

The probe took off at 1:58 UAE time from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre, after being postponed twice because of adverse weather conditions in Japan.

An hour after the launch, with clockwork precision, the probe successfully separated from the launch vehicle and its solar panels deployed, launch operator Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Launch Services confirmed. Within minutes, the probe's telecom system was set up and it transmitted its first signal, which was received by the Mission Control team in Dubai's Al Khawaneej.

Al Amal, or The Hope, weighing 1.3 tonnes was launched from the H-2A rocket from Japan's remote Tanegashima spaceport. The Dh735-million project is the first inter-planetary mission by any Arab nation, and product of