On July 19, 2020 at 21:58 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Riding a Japanese rocket, the Arab world’s first interplanetary probe departed planet Earth to begin a seven-month journey to Mars on a dual mission of scientific exploration and proving the mettle of the UAE’s growing space program.