On July 19 at 9:58 PM (UTC), a JAXA H-2A rocket launched the Emirates Mars Mission.

This is the first interplanetary mission for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The orbiter is expected to arrive sometime in February 2021 and will study climate and weather on Mars.

There are three instruments onboard:

First up is the Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer. According to information from the mission website as well as Gunter’s Space Page, it was developed by Arizona State University and will study Mars’ lower atmosphere in the infrared band and “will [measure] the global distribution of dust, ice clouds, water vapours, and temperature profiles.” 

Second is the Emirates eXploration Imager, a “multi-band camera capable of taking 12-megapixel images.” It has three UV filters and three visible range filters that it will use to measure ice, dust, and ozone in the atmosphere of Mars.

And third, the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer, which will determine “the abundance and variability of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the thermosphere on sub-seasonal timescales, calculate the three-dimensional structure and variability of oxygen and hydrogen in the exosphere, and [measure] the relative changes in the thermosphere.”

More Information

Emirates Mars Mission website 

SpaceFlight Now article 

Al-Amal (Gunter’s Space Page)