Hope Probe hits 100 million km mark, expected to arrive February 2021

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced that the Hope Probe, the Arab world’s first mission to another planet, travelled a fifth of its journey to the Red Planet one month after its historic lift-off from Japan.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum shared two images from the Hope Probe’s star-tracking camera and tweeted, "The Hope Probe is officially 100 million km into its journey to the Red Planet. Mars, as demonstrated in the image captured by the Probe’s Star Tracker, is ahead of us, leaving Saturn and Jupiter behind. The Hope Probe is expected to arrive to Mars in February 2021."

Currently travelling at a speed ranging between 110,400 km/h to 122,400km/h, the Hope Probe has already travelled fifth of its journey, equivalent to 130 trips from the Earth to the moon.

The probe will automatically reduce its speed to 18,000 km/h as it gets closer to Mars.

So far, the mission has attracted 60,000 students to join its diverse educational programmes, developed 200 new technologies and helped publish 51 research papers and build 66 parts of the probe in the UAE.