The United Arab Emirates’ $200 million project to send a satellite into orbit around Mars is now a success. The UAE is the fifth body to reach Mars, after the US, Russia, the European Union, and India.

Hope has taken seven months to reach its destination, arriving shortly ahead of rival missions from both China and the US.

It was launched last July from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, carried on the back of a Mitsubishi H-2A rocket. Its job is to study the global weather cycle, examining the formation of dust storms, and understanding why Mars is leaking hydrogen and oxygen.

Earlier this year, officials said that the probe needed to burn a significant amount of fuel to decelerate to the right speed, a process that would take up to half an hour. If it goes too fast, however, and the probe would overshoot altogether.

Also Rea: Shoot Bubbles Game – How To Play Online Facebook Messenger Shoot Bubbles Game

Last year Minister of Advanced Sciences, Sarah Al Amiri, said that space exploration is “the future of the UAE” as it looks to reinvent itself. The country is looking to remark its economy as a science and innovation hub as the world shifts away from fossil fuels.

Who made the UAE Mars probe?

The US$200-million probe — called Amal in Arabic — was built at the University of Colorado Boulder and at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai, by a team of engineers from both institutions and other US partners.

What happened Hope probe?

Hope is now in a temporary orbit that it will retain for a few months as it powers on its instruments and settles into its new home. Mission personnel plan to relocate the spacecraft to its science orbit in May.