Five billion kilometres, seven asteroids: UAE readies probe for 2028 launch

Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has completed a probe designed to land on the asteroid 269 Justitia as part of the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, with launch scheduled for March 2028.

The UAE-built probe will soon be sent to Colorado in the United States for final integration with the MBR Explorer spacecraft, TII said on Monday. It is expected to reach Justitia’s surface in early 2036, following a journey that includes encounters with six other asteroids.

Designed, built and tested in Abu Dhabi, the probe is the mission’s only deployable payload. It will separate from MBR Explorer near Justitia, descend to the surface and capture close-range images to help scientists study the asteroid’s composition and physical characteristics.

TII developed the probe through its Propulsion and Space Research Center, working with the UAE Space Agency, HEX20, Khalifa University and UAE University’s National Space Science and Technology Center.

The mission targets an asteroid that scientists believe may have originated in the Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune, before migrating into the main asteroid belt during the early history of the Solar System.

Justitia is among the reddest objects observed in the main asteroid belt. Its spectrum resembles that of objects in the Kuiper Belt, suggesting its surface may contain complex organic material formed through the irradiation of ice. Studying it could help researchers understand how water and other volatile substances were distributed as the planets formed.

The MBR Explorer spacecraft is expected to travel approximately five billion kilometres over eight years, using gravity assists at Venus, Earth and Mars. Its launch from Japan is planned within a three-week window in March 2028.

“The engineering challenge is not simply reaching Justitia, but ensuring the probe can survive an eight-year journey and still perform precisely when it matters most,” said Dr. Elias Tsoutsanis, chief researcher at TII’s Propulsion and Space Research Center. “Every element – from the hardware and thermal design to the onboard software – has been engineered and tested for that final encounter.”

According to TII, the probe will operate autonomously after launch, receiving no commands from Earth or MBR Explorer. Its onboard software will decide when to take images, how many to capture and which to retain. A digital processing unit developed by TII will manage processing, image selection and power.

The probe carries wide-field and narrow-field cameras and will begin imaging during the journey, transmitting data at approximately six-month intervals.

Once MBR Explorer reaches Justitia, it will spend about seven months in orbit, starting at an altitude of 250 kilometres before moving into progressively lower orbits. The probe will be released during a low-altitude pass, imaging continuously as it descends and transmitting to the spacecraft above.

TII said the probe will also excavate the surface, allowing scientists to examine material beneath the outer layer that cannot be characterised from orbit.

Faisal Al Bannai, secretary general of the Advanced Technology Research Council, which oversees TII, and a member of the UAE Supreme Space Council, said the programme had expanded the country’s engineering capabilities.

“For this mission, that means a probe that must make decisions and operate on its own in deep space. And our teams have built that technology here in the UAE,” he said.

The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt is the UAE’s second interplanetary mission. According to the release, it is the first in which the spacecraft element has been designed, engineered, assembled and tested within the country.