"The UAE's mission to explore the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter will continue for 13 years, six years for the development of the spacecraft and seven years for the journey, during which MBR Explorer spacecraft will travel 5 billion kilometers, bypassing Mars, to explore seven asteroids and to land on the final one in 2034," he tweeted.
The prime minister added that the spacecraft, which is named after him, will cover a distance 10 times longer than the robotic probe Hope, which the country launched in 2020.
The mission to explore the asteroid belt is "a huge national scientific project" as well as "a unique global initiative in space research and knowledge," which will involve the establishment of private space technology companies in the country, the creation of a ground control center for deep space missions and the education of new UAE staff, he added.
In March, Amer AlGhaferi, senior director of the Space Engineering Department at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), told Sputnik that the UAE was working with the US and Russian space agencies on scientific experiments that would hopefully help ensure that humans could one day inhabit Mars.