Finally, someone has a realistic timeline for Mars colonization—the UAE

NASA says it intends to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, but the space agency does not have a realistic budget to do so. SpaceX's Elon Musk says he will send the first human colonists to Mars in the 2020s, but his company also lacks the funding to implement its bold plans without a major government partner.

We can now add the United Arab Emirates to the list of those entities who want to see Mars colonized. However, even if it too lacks the space exploration budget or technology to do so at this time, the federation of seven Arab emirates appears to have a much more reasonable timeline for sending humans to the red planet—the year 2117, a century from now.

The ruler of one of the seven emirates, Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced UAE's colonization plan this week at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Later, in a series of tweets, Sheikh Mohammad explained, "The project, to be named 'Mars 2117,' integrates a vision to create a mini-city and community on Mars involving international cooperation. We aspire in the coming century to develop science, technology, and our youth's passion for knowledge. This project is driven by that vision."

The UAE's space agency, which already has a partnership with French and British space agencies, envisions an international program. "The Mars 2117 project will develop an Emirati and international team of scientists to push the human exploration of Mars in years to come," Sheikh Mohammad said. "Mars 2117 is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruit of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge."

According to Dubai's media office, an Emirati team of engineers, scientists, and researchers has developed a concept for the first human city on Mars, which will be constructed by robots in advance of human habitation. This Martian city would have transportation, power production, food and—based upon some concept drawings released—very modern-looking buildings.

This is all rather ambitious for a space agency that was formed just three years ago. However, the new goal does seem consistent with UAE's interest in Mars, as the Arab federation has previously announced a plan to launch an automobile-size probe named "Hope" to Mars in 2020 to study the planet's atmosphere.

What is perhaps most notable about Mars 2117 is that it represents a third major stakeholder interested in sending humans to Mars, alongside NASA and SpaceX. Most of the rest of the global space community, from Europe to Russia to China, have expressed far more interest in developing lunar resources rather than far more ambitious human missions to Mars.

Listing image by Dubai media office