MBR Explorer
The United Arab Emirates' planned tour of the asteroid belt, ending with a landing.
Key facts
- Agency
- United Arab Emirates Space Agency
- Type of mission
- Multiple asteroid flybys and landing
- Target
- Seven main-belt asteroids, ending at 269 Justitia
- Launched
- Planned for 2028
- Status
- In development
The Mohammed bin Rashid Explorer, often called the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, is the second deep-space mission of the United Arab Emirates, after its Hope orbiter at Mars. It is being built with university partners in the United States.
The plan
After a launch planned for 2028, the spacecraft is meant to use the gravity of Venus, Earth and Mars to reach the asteroid belt. It is planned to fly past six asteroids and then go into orbit around a seventh, 269 Justitia, in the mid-2030s, before releasing a small lander onto its surface.
Why Justitia?
Justitia, about 50 kilometres across, is one of the reddest objects in the asteroid belt. Very red colours are typical of bodies far out in the Solar System, beyond Neptune, and are thought to come from organic material on their surfaces. Justitia may have formed out there and been scattered inwards when the giant planets moved. If so, it is a visitor from the outer Solar System living among the asteroids.
Why it matters to meteorites
Most meteorites come from the inner part of the asteroid belt. A survey of several different asteroids, including such an unusual one, will help show how varied the belt's population is, and whether some rare meteorite types, such as the ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites like Tagish Lake, could come from bodies like Justitia.
Key dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2028 | Planned launch. |
| 2034 | Planned arrival at the asteroid Justitia. |
See where this mission fits among all the others in the mission timeline.
Did you know?
Justitia is redder than almost every other known main-belt asteroid.
The mission's flybys are planned to visit asteroids of several different types in one trip.