The MBR Explorer, a deployable probe built by Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute (TII) for the UAE's Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, has entered its final round of testing. Designed to detach from the main spacecraft and make direct contact with an asteroid's surface, the probe has already completed vibration testing and is now undergoing thermal vacuum testing inside a chamber at a university in Al Ain. A full performance review and flight-readiness assessment still remain before the probe ships to Colorado for integration with the main spacecraft.
Under the current timeline, launch is set for a three-week window in March 2028. The spacecraft will then travel roughly 5 billion kilometres over eight years, using gravity assists from Venus, Earth and Mars, and flying past six other asteroids en route before finally reaching its primary target, asteroid 269 Justitia, in 2036.
Mission officials say around 80% of the probe's design and development work has been carried out by UAE engineers, with 40 people contributing over an 18-month period — including 20 Emirati engineers who have now gained hands-on experience at the level of a full space mission. Dr Najwa Aaraj, CEO of TII, Faisal Al Bannai, adviser to the UAE President, and Dr Ahmad Al Falasi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency, are among the officials overseeing the project, which they describe as a major step in building the country's indigenous space capabilities ahead of a mission that will keep UAE engineers engaged for a full decade.