The MBR Explorer: UAE's mission to explore the asteroid belt (Pre-Mission)

 

Illustration of the MBR spacecraft. Credit: UAE Space Agency

Launch Date: 2028

Launch Site: To Be Determined

Launch Vehicle: To Be Determined

Mission Type: Flyby & Lander

Target: Justitia and 6 other Main-Belt Asteroids.

Dimensions: Unavailable

Mass: 2800 Kilograms

Build your own MBR spacecraft model out of LEGO here.

The Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) spacecraft is part of the UAE's new "Emirates Mission to the Asteroid belt" (EMA). The spacecraft is named after the vice president and prime minister of the UAE, who is also the ruler of Dubai. This mission will consist of 6 asteroid flybys, and a landing on the seventh asteroid, 269 Justitia.

The Mission

Similar in Design to NASA's Lucy spacecraft, the MBR spacecraft will launch in 2028. We do not know where it will launch, or what rocket it will launch on (the UAE doesn't have its own launch site as of writing, so my bet is the spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9).

The MBR spacecraft is planned to have a seven year journey through space before it attempts its landing on Justitia. The spacecraft will have a seperate lander like ESA's Rosetta spacecraft. 

Before the spacecraft attempts a landing on Justitia, it will visit six other asteroids. These are:

10253 Westerwald

623 Chimaera

13294 Rockox

88055 (2000 VA28)

23871 (1998 RC76)

59980 (1999 SG6)

The last three asteroids above have yet to recieve official names by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). They will likely be given Arabic names ahead of MBR's launch.

On its journey to the asteroids, MBR will make gravity assists of Venus Earth and Mars. After its first asteroid flyby in Febuary of 2030, MBR will deploy its lander at Justitia in April of 2034. Justitia was chosen as the lander's target because it is thought to be a Kuiper belt object that migrated into the inner solar system. While not as pristine as genuine Kuiper belt objects, Justitia will still present many scientific jewels ripe for discovery. 

While MBR will make the most flybys of main belt asteroids of any spacecraft. Many of the asteroids it will flyby are poorly understood. Most of them don't even have a dedicated wikipedia page.

The Targets

(Named Targets Only)

• Date Discovered: September 21, 1887
• Designation: 269 Justitia (A887 SA)
• Class: Main-Belt Asteroid
• Radius: 25.36 Kilometres
• Rotational Period: 33.13 Hours
• Orbital Period: 1547.6 Days (4.24 Years)

• Date Discovered: September 29, 1973
• Designation: 10253 Westerwald (2116 T-2)
• Class: Main-Belt Asteroid
• Radius: 1.14 Kilometres
• Rotational Period: N/A
• Orbital Period: 1271.04 Days (3.48 Years)

• Date Discovered: January 22, 1907
• Designation: 623 Chimaera (A907 BC)
• Class: Main-Belt Asteroid
• Radius: 22.05 Kilometres
• Rotational Period: 14.64 Hours
• Orbital Period: 1411.01 Days (3.86 Years)

• Date Discovered: August 25, 1998
• Designation: 13294 Rockox (1998 QO105)
• Class: Main-Belt Asteroid
• Radius: 2.62 Kilometres
• Rotational Period: 3.24 Hours
• Orbital Period: 1238.69 Days (3.39 years)