The United Arab Emirates has announced its next interplanetary space mission — coming hot on the heels of the success of its Hope probe to Mars eight months ago.
It will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus before studying the asteroid belts between Mars and Jupiter as part of a 2.2 billion mile, five-year journey.
The uncrewed craft is scheduled for launch in 2028, with the hope of making its first fly-by of the main asteroid belt by 2030 and seven more before landing on an asteroid 350 million miles from Earth in 2033.
If successful, it would make the UAE the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on an asteroid.
Looking to the stars: The UAE has announced its next interplanetary space mission — it will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus before studying the asteroid belts between Mars and Jupiter
The uncrewed craft is scheduled for launch in 2028, with the hope of making its first fly-by of the main asteroid belt by 2030 and seven more before landing on an asteroid 350 million miles from Earth in 2033. The spacecraft is pictured in a CGI visual
In February, it became the first Arab nation and only the fifth country overall to place a spaceship in orbit around Mars.
Hope will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of planet's atmosphere and its layers, according to the UAE.
The latest interplanetary mission will involve significant involvement from Emirati private sector companies, the country's space agency said, and is designed to further accelerate space engineering, scientific research and exploration.
It has not yet said how much the project will cost, but the Hope probe to Mars ended up coming in at around $200 million (£146m).
'We have set our eyes to the stars because our journey to development and progress has no boundaries, no borders and no limitations,' said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
