Final prep before UAE Mars mission launch in Japan

Final preparations are being made ahead of the launch of United Arab Emirates' first spacecraft to circle Mars.

The H-2A rocket carrying the Emirate's Mars Mission Hope spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 20:51GMT on Tuesday July 14 (5:51AM July 15 local time) from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan.

But weather is casting a shadow over the scheduled launch, with seasonal rain front approaching the region. Intermittent thunder may affect plans, according to Keiji Suzuki Director of Mitsubishi Launch Site Service Team.

"As of the current forecast, these thunders are not expected to be strong and lasting, so our current assessment is that there could be a chance, possibility for launch" said Suzuki.

Emirates Mars Mission Project Director, Omran Sharaf, said the mission will allow scientists to gain first ever view of the atmosphere on Mars at different times of day during different seasons.

Hope is to reach Mars in 2021, the year the UAE celebrates 50 years since the country's formation.

Hope carries three instruments to study the Mars atmosphere and send back images to the Earth while circling the red planet for at least two years.

If successful, it would be the first Arab country to visit the Red Planet, joining an elite club of nations that have studied the Martian atmosphere.

Two other Mars missions are planned in the coming days by the United States and China. Japan has its own Mars mission planned in 2024.