MBR Explorer

The MBR Explorer is a planned UAESA space probe designed to journey to seven different main belt asteroids.^[2][3] Proposed under the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, it is named in recognition of the foundational role driving the creation and growth of the UAE Space Program played by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice president and the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.^[4]

MBR Explorer

Mission type	Asteroid multiple-flyby/orbiter/lander
Operator	Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
Mission duration	Flyby phase: 8.5 years Orbiter phase: 7 months
Start of mission
Launch date	March 2028
Rocket	H3
Launch site	Tanegashima, LA-Y2
Contractor	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Flyby of Venus (gravity assist)
Closest approach	July 2028[1]
Flyby of Earth (gravity assist)
Closest approach	May 2029
Flyby of 10253 Westerwald
Closest approach	February 2030
Flyby of 623 Chimaera
Closest approach	June 2030
Flyby of 13294 Rockox
Closest approach	January 2031
Flyby of Mars (gravity assist)
Closest approach	September 2031
Flyby of 88055 Ghaf
Closest approach	July 2032
Flyby of 23871 Ousha
Closest approach	December 2032
Flyby of 59980 Moza[a]
Closest approach	August 2033
269 Justitia orbiter
Orbital insertion	October 2034
269 Justitia lander
Landing date	May 2035

The mission to explore the asteroid belt was announced by the United Arab Emirates Space Agency in May 2023, and the launch is planned for March 2028.^[1][5][6] Similarly to their previous Mars mission, the MBR Explorer will launch from Tanegashima Space Center, this time on an H3 Launch Vehicle.^[7]

The spacecraft will weigh around 2.8 tonnes and will travel at an average speed of 33,000 km/h.^[8]

The MBR Explorer will visit asteroids 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera, 13294 Rockox, 88055 Ghaf, 23871 Ousha, and 59980 Moza^[a] during a 5-billion-kilometre total journey,^[4][11] and will attempt to orbit its seventh and final asteroid, 269 Justitia in 2034.^[8] The spacecraft will additionally drop off a small lander to set down on Justitia's surface.^[5]

At the time when MBR Explorer was proposed, Ghaf (2000 VA₂₈), Ousha (1998 RC₇₆), and Moza (1999 SG₆) were unnamed and were known by their provisional designations.^[4] All three of these asteroids were officially named on 13 October 2025.^[9][10]

See also

• List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
• Lucy, an ongoing NASA mission that will similarly fly by various Jupiter trojans.
• DESTINY+, a planned JAXA mission that may fly past multiple near-Earth asteroids.

Notes

1. The name "Moza" was mistakenly given to asteroid (59880) 1999 RS119 on 13 October 2025,^[9] but was swiftly corrected on the same date.^[10]