Later this decade, the United Arab Emirates will send a Japanese H3 rocket on a mission to visit many asteroids.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will launch its Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) on an H3 rocket in the first quarter of 2028, according to a statement released by the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) on October 10. The contract's terms were kept a secret.

After Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, gave the spacecraft the name MBR Explorer, it will pass by six major belt asteroids between 2030 and 2033. In 2034, it will reunite with Justitia, the seventh asterroid, and thereafter release a lander.

The UAE has chosen MHI to undertake three missions, starting with this one. The Mars orbiter Emirates Mars Mission was launched in 2020 by an H-2A rocket, while in 2018 KhalifaSat, a remote sensing satellite, was launched as a secondary payload on another H-2A.

The director of EMA missions, Mohsen AlAwadhi, stated in a statement regarding the deal that they have high hopes for the H3 launch vehicle because of its improved capabilities and MHI's dedication to accuracy and quality. He continued by saying that this alliance was a reflection of the UAE's faith in MHI's know-how and technology, as well as the next phase in their deep space exploration.

Since releasing the mission's details over a year ago, the UAE Space Agency has not released many updates regarding MBR Explorer's progress. The agency announced in July that it had finished a mission concept evaluation, but it withheld any additional details regarding the mission or the spacecraft, including cost and spacecraft mass.

The grant is given at a time when MHI is looking to expand H3 launch operations. The H3 is planned for another launch in late October and has already completed two successful flights this year following a botched first launch attempt in 2023. At the September World Space Business Week conference, Nobuyuki Shiina, deputy general manager for space systems business development at MHI, stated that his organization aimed to boost the vehicle's launch rate from six to eight times a year, although he did not provide a timeline for doing so.