DHAKA: The UAE has entered the space race with a project to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021 in the Arab world’s first mission to another planet.

A new UAE Space Agency will be created to coordinate the UAE’s growing space technology sector and to supervise the mission.

The UAE is one of only nine countries with space programmes to explore the Red Planet.

The Mars probe’s nine-month and more than 60 million kilometre journey will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the UAE’s formation.

‘The UAE Mars probe represents the Islamic world’s entry into the era of space exploration. We will prove that we are capable of delivering new scientific contributions to humanity,’ UAE president Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said, reports gulfnews.com.

‘The UAE’s purpose is to build Emirati technical and intellectual capabilities in the fields of aerospace and space exploration and to enter the space industry and to make use of space technology in a way that enhances the country’s development plans.’

BDST: 2132 HRS, JUL 16, 2014