UAE still hoping for Apr 5 space mission

dubai — The UAE is still hoping to send its astronaut to space on April 5 next year despite the recent launch failure of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

On October 11, a Nasa astronaut and Russian cosmonaut were set to go to the International Space Station (ISS) for a sixmonth-long trip. However, minutes after the liftoff, they faced a failure in the rocket’s booster — causing a ballistic re-entry into Earth. Now, Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Nasa are carrying out investigations to understand what caused the failure. Roscosmos tweeted that they are holding a meeting with their emergency team today to discuss updates on the ongoing investigation of the Soyuz. Since the incident, Russia has suspended all manned missions until further notice.

Adnan Al Rais, Mars 2117 Programme manager at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of Gitex Technology Week that they are still targeting April 5 for the launch date.

When asked if there will be a delay on the launch, he said: “We don’t have any confirmation yet. We know that the launch is in April, 2019, and there’s no further information right now.”

However, the suspension of all manned missions by Russia has put all upcoming launches into question.

The CEO of Singapore-based Equatorial Space Industries, Simon Gwozdz, told Khaleej Times that astronauts who are meant to go to the ISS soon should “expect some delays”.