Dubai heads to Mars, announces 2117 colonisation plans
Dubai and the UAE aren't just shining a light on the future, they're building it, and now their latest ambition is to colonise Mars
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2017) 'Dubai heads to Mars, announces 2117 colonisation plans', 311 Institute, 16 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/the-united-arab-emirates-wants-to-build-a-city-on-mars/ (Accessed: 8 October 2026).
Earlier this week Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined Elon Musk, Boeing, and NASA ,who recently showed off their new Mars habitat concept and Mars mining robot, in announcing his plans to colonise Mars within the next 100 years under a project dubbed "Mars 2117 Project."
“The landing of people on other planets has been a longtime dream for humans. Our aim is that the UAE will spearhead international efforts to make this dream a reality,” he said, "the new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge."
However, while the UAE are busy unveiling and embracing everything from robot police and sky taxis to Hyperloop networks, and now colonies on Mars you can't help but think that the latter two, which have Elon Musk's fine fingerprints all over them already - namely because he famously invented the Hyperloop and then announced plans to colonise Mars himself - is the emirates latest attempt to out gun, out think and out awesome the rest of the planet. Elon Musk style... and that might be no bad thing.
Dubai has already invested $5.4 billion in its UAE Space Agency (USA), created in 2014, which was originally proposed as a Pan-Arab Space Agency similar to Europe’s ESA, who'll start building a Moon base this year, that works in partnership with the National Centre of Space Studies of France and the UK Space Agency.
The UAE's first launch is planned to for 2021 in the form of a probe that will be sent ahead to scout the red planets martian surface and initially the Mars 2117 project will begin with an Emirati team of scientists before expanding internationally, a statement said. Over the coming decades it will explore how to travel to the planet faster, as well as how to meet human needs for food, transport and energy on Earth’s neighbour.
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Dubai and the UAE aren't just shining a light on the future, they're building it, and now their latest ambition is to colonise Mars
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Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- UAE Space Agency space.gov.ae
- National Centre of Space Studies en.wikipedia.org
- UK Space Agency gov.uk
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 16 February 2017. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2017). Dubai heads to Mars, announces 2117 colonisation plans. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/the-united-arab-emirates-wants-to-build-a-city-on-mars/
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