Arab News

TOKYO: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced on Sunday the launch schedule of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 42 (H-IIA F42) which carries aboard the Emirates Mars Mission’s (EMM) Hope spacecraft developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in the United Arab Emirates.

The launch date is set for Wednesday, July 15, 2020, and the launch time is scheduled for 5:51:27 am (Japan Standard Time, 00:50:27am UAE time) from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, and the spacecraft is expected to arrive on Mars in 2021 to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE.

MHI said the launch time is subject to set each day during the reserved launch period. Reserved launch period is set on July 16 through August 13, 2020.

MHI began providing launch services in 2007 with the H-IIA, and with H-IIB Launch Vehicle in 2013 upon the technology transferred from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).