First Arab space mission to Mars launches from Japan

The first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe dubbed "Hope", blasted off from Japan on Monday, in a bid to reveal more about the atmosphere of the Red Planet.

The Japanese rocket carrying the probe developed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre in southern Japan right on schedule at 6:58 am local time (2158 GMT Sunday).

The launch of the probe, known as "Al-Amal" in Arabic, had twice been delayed because of bad weather, but the Monday liftoff appeared smooth and successful.

In Dubai, the launch was met with rapturous excitement, with the Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest skyscraper -- lit up hours before liftoff with a symbolic 10-second countdown in anticipation.

"This mission is an important milestone for the UAE and the region," said Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, director of the UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, at a post-launch press conference in Japan.

The Emirati project is one of three racing to Mars, including Tianwen-1 from China and Mars 2020 from the United States, taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest.

In October, Mars will be a comparatively close 38.6 million miles (62.07 million kilometres) from Earth, according to NASA.

"Hope" is expected to enter Mars orbit by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE, an alliance of seven emirates.

Unlike the two other Mars ventures scheduled for this year, it will not land on the Red Planet, but instead orbit it for a whole Martian year, or 687 days.

Hope is expected to begin transmitting information back to Earth in September 2021, with its data available for scientists around the world to study.

The UAE already has nine functioning satellites in Earth orbit, with plans to launch another eight in coming years. And in September, it sent the first Emirati into space on a mission to the International Space Station.