DubaiSat-1 launched 2009

DubaiSat-1, launched July 29, 2009, was the first satellite built by Emirates Institution For Advanced Science and Technology, which later became the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in the United Arab Emirates.  It provides images for infrastructure development, urban planning, and environment monitoring and protection.

United Arab Emirates mission to Mars launched today!

The United Arab Emirates launched their first mission to Mars, Hope, earlier today.  The mission is expected to reach Mars in February 2021.  It will study the Martian atmosphere, weather cycles and events to understand why the atmosphere is losing hydrogen and oxygen into space.

It was built by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center with the University of Colorado, Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley. 

If it is successful, it will be the first mission to Mars by any Arab or Muslim country.

Soyuz MS-12 launched 2019

Soyuz MS-12 crew (L-R): Nick Hague, Aleksey Ovchinin, Christina Koch

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-12, launched March 14, 2019, carried the crew of Expedition 59 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksey Ovhinin, Nick Hague and Christina Koch.

Ovchinin and Hague retunred to Earth in October 2019 with space participant Hazza Al Mansouri of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates.

Christina Koch returned to Earth in February 2020 after a record-breaking stay in space.