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The MBR Explorer is a planned UAESA space probe designed to journey to seven different main belt asteroids. Proposed under the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, it is named in recognition of the foundational role driving the creation and growth of the UAE Space Program played by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president and the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.

The mission to explore the asteroid belt was announced by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency in May 2023, and the launch is planned for March 2028. Similarly to their previous Mars mission, the MBR Explorer will launch from Tanegashima Space Center, this time on an H3.

The spacecraft will weigh around 2.8 tonnes and will travel at an average speed of 33,000 km/h.

The MBR Explorer will visit asteroids 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera, 13294 Rockox, (88055) 2000 VA₂₈, (23871) 1998 RC₇₆, and (59980) 1999 SG₆, in a 5-billion-kilometre total journey, and will attempt to land on its seventh and final asteroid, 269 Justitia in 2034.

The spacecraft will also drop off a small lander to set down on Justitia's surface.

See also

• Lucy, an ongoing NASA mission that will similarly fly by various Jupiter trojans.
• DESTINY+, a planned JAXA mission that will fly past multiple asteroids.

References

1. Foust, Jeff (2023-06-03). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
2. "UAE announces space mission to land MBR Explorer on asteroid 5 billion kilometres away". Arabian Business. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
3. "Touring Through the Asteroid Belt: United Arab Emirates Unveils Bold Mission". SpaceRef. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
4. ^ "Arabian spacecraft to search asteroid belt for clues to life's origins". ABC News. 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
5. Foust, Jeff (3 June 2023). "UAE outlines plans for asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
6. ^ Kenneth Chang (May 29, 2023). "The United Arab Emirates Is Heading for the Asteroid Belt". The New York Times.
7. Sarwat Nasir (May 29, 2023). "MBR Explorer: UAE unveils details of its mission to the main asteroid belt". The National. Abu Dhabi.
8. Foust, Jeff (2024-10-10). "Japan's H3 to launch Emirati asteroid mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
9. ^ "MBR Explorer: All about UAE's new space mission to Asteroid Belt". Gulf News. 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
10. "Ambitious Emirati Mission Seeks to Visit 7 Asteroids and Land on the Big Red One". Gizmodo. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-06-08.

v t e Spacecraft missions to minor planets and comets
List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft List of artificial objects on extraterrestrial surfaces
Active	New Horizons (multiple flybys) OSIRIS-APEX (orbiter) Hayabusa2♯ (lander) Lucy (multiple flybys) Psyche (orbiter) Hera (orbiter) AIDA
Past	Flybys Cassini–Huygens Chang'e 2 Clementine CONTOUR Deep Impact EPOXI Deep Space 1 Galileo Halley Armada Giotto Sakigake Suisei Vega 1 Vega 2 International Cometary Explorer LICIACube NEA Scout NEAR Shoemaker Pioneer 7 PROCYON Rosetta Stardust Ulysses Orbiters Dawn NEAR Shoemaker Rosetta Timeline Landers Hayabusa MINERVA Hayabusa2 MASCOT Rover-1A / HIBOU Rover-1B / OWL Rover-2 NEAR Shoemaker Philae Impactors Deep Impact DART AIDA Sample return Hayabusa Hayabusa2 Stardust OSIRIS-REx
Planned	Tianwen-2 (multiple flybys and sample return, 2025) DESTINY+ (multiple flybys, 2028) MBR Explorer (multiple flybys and orbiter, 2028) Comet Interceptor (flyby, 2029)
Proposed	Shensuo (flybys, 2024) ASTER (orbiter, 2025) Ramses (2029) Interstellar Probe (flyby, 2030–2042)
Cancelled or not developed	AGORA AIM Asteroid Redirect Mission Athena CAESAR Castalia Centaurus Chimera Clementine 2 Comet Hopper CONDOR CORSAIR CRAF Don Quijote HAMMER Hayabusa Mk2 Janus MAOSEP MANTIS Marco Polo New Horizons 2 OKEANOS Vesta
Related	Asteroid belt Asteroid capture Asteroid mining Colonization of asteroids Ceres Pluto Exploration Small Solar System bodies Near-Earth object Trans-Neptunian object Colonization Trojan Vesta
Probes are listed in chronological order of launch. indicates mission failures.

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