Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, witnessed the unveiling of the landing vehicle for the UAE's mission to explore the asteroid belt.The lander was developed, assembled and tested in the UAE and reached readiness for its journey in less than two years.In a post on X, His Highness said: "I witnessed the unveiling of the landing vehicle for the UAE's mission to explore the asteroid belt, which was developed, assembled and tested in the UAE, and reached the stage of readiness for its journey in less than two years."His Highness added: "With the vision of our wise leadership, the UAE continues to build its capabilities in one of the most advanced sectors in the world, and today more than 150 engineers and scientists are working as part of one national team on a mission that will travel about 5 billion kilometres to explore 7 asteroids." Sheikh Hamdan said the UAE's space sector now exceeds Dh44 billion in value."The size of the UAE space sector today exceeds 44 billion dirhams, and we are working until 2031 to double the returns of the space economy and consolidate the UAE's position among the top 10 strongest space economies globally."He added: "We are proud of Emirati minds that turn great ambitions into achievements, and we continue to invest in people, knowledge and technology to create a new future for the UAE in space."
