UAE drops new hints on its mysterious plan to join the 'new space race' and build the first CITY on Mars by 2117.

Axar.az reports citing the Daily Mail.

The UAE turned the heads of space exploration fans everywhere earlier this year when it announced its plans to build a mini-city on Mars in the next century.

Officials have since released few details on the project, which is part of its 100-year national programme to better understand the red planet.

But yesterday a key figurehead of the ambitious plans said that the UAE is prepared to join the 'new space race' and that young Arab people will lead the mission.

'In the UAE... we believe that we are on the cusp of a new age of exploration,' Saeed Al Gergawi, Program Director of the Mars 2117 program at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), announced at the Humans to Mars summit in Washington, DC.

Mr Al Gergawi explained the UAE's ambitions for the colony in a panel of representatives from the European Space Agency, NASA and more.

He said that the country plans to collaborate with multiple commercial and national entities to build the colony.
Though Mr Al Gergawi gave little detail as to how these collaborations might emerge, it is likely that Nasa will be involved to some degree.