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You can follow the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) through UAE Space Agency announcements, but the official sources reviewed do not specify a public live spacecraft tracker or science-data archive. EMA is planned to launch in Q1 2028; its MBR Explorer spacecraft is expected to make its first asteroid encounter in February 2030 and later deploy an autonomous probe at 269 Justitia.
What “tracking” EMA means right now
EMA is the mission; MBR Explorer is the spacecraft that will travel through the main asteroid belt. The mission plans flybys of six asteroids before rendezvousing with 269 Justitia, where it intends to deploy a probe. Those distinctions matter: following announcements about the mission is currently possible, but that is not the same as viewing a live spacecraft position or downloading its science data.
For schedule and milestone news, use the UAE Space Agency’s EMA project page and its official news announcements. The reviewed official reporting does not name a public live tracking interface, telemetry feed, science archive, data-release format, or public release schedule. These may be announced later, but they should not be assumed to exist now.
EMA schedule and development status
| Milestone | Current reported timing or status |
|---|---|
| Development status | On 27 April 2026, the UAE Space Agency said EMA had completed its Critical Design Review in 2025 and entered Assembly, Integration, and Testing. Source |
| Launch | Planned for Q1 2028. The 6 October 2026 Abu Dhabi Media Office report specifies a three-week launch window from Japan. Source |
| First asteroid encounter | Expected in February 2030, according to the UAE Space Agency mission overview. Source |
| Probe deployment at Justitia | Planned for early 2036, following an orbital campaign, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office report dated 6 October 2026. Source |
These are plans and expectations, not guaranteed dates. The UAE Space Agency’s 2026 status update is useful for program progress; for the later probe and deployment details, the more recent 6 October 2026 Abu Dhabi Media Office report is the dated source.
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What the mission expects to measure
The UAE Space Agency says EMA is intended to investigate asteroid surface composition and geology, interior density, temperatures, and thermophysical properties. At Justitia, the probe is intended to add close-range imaging and surface investigation to the spacecraft’s observations. The measurements are meant to help characterize the asteroids and their physical properties, rather than simply provide images for public viewing.
A June 2023 UAE Space Agency release described an earlier payload configuration: a mid-wavelength infrared spectrometer contributed by the Italian Space Agency, high-resolution and thermal infrared cameras from Malin Space Science Systems, and a thermal infrared spectrometer based on the Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer design. This is a historically reported instrument description, not confirmation of the final current instrument manifest. Read the 2023 announcement.
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What is known about the autonomous probe’s data
The Abu Dhabi Media Office reported on 6 October 2026 that the probe has two cameras—one wide-field and one narrow-field—and onboard software that chooses when to image and which images to retain. It is expected to take images during cruise and transmit data at approximately six-month intervals. The same report describes an approximately eight-year journey and a route of about 5 billion kilometres.
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How to follow updates without mistaking them for live tracking
- Check the UAE Space Agency EMA project page for the mission overview, objectives, and currently published schedule: UAE Space Agency EMA page.
- Check dated UAE Space Agency announcements for development milestones and schedule changes: UAE Space Agency news.
- Look for explicit public-access instructions before expecting live positions or downloadable files. An announcement of data transmission from the probe is not, by itself, an announcement of public access.
Until an official source provides a tracking interface or archive, these channels are for following mission news—not for monitoring MBR Explorer’s real-time location or retrieving its telemetry.
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