The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is targeting seven different space rocks with its mission to the main asteroid belt.
The mission was announced in 2021, but now a poster presented in June at the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference in Arizona has revealed the specific targets for the mission. “The mission will launch in 2028 and visit seven main belt asteroids, including six high-speed flyby encounters en route to a rendezvous with the asteroid 269 Justitia,” according to the document, which details the design of the mission. The targets include flybys of 10253 Westerwald, 623 Chimaera, 13294 Rockox, 88055, 23871, 59980 and a rendezvous of 269 Justitia.
After rendezvousing with 269 Justitia, the spacecraft will deploy a lander for an attempt to set down on the surface. Notably, only NASA’s OSIRIS-REx…