Mission 2022 for the United Arab Emirates: a robot on the moon!

A mission in partnership with Japan 

To develop their space program, the objective of the United Arab Emirates is simple: to land their rover Rashid on the Moon, a project built and conducted simultaneously next year with a Japanese mission. “We chose iSpace because of its capabilities and the strength of its team. We are honored to be part of their first mission to the surface of the Moon” said the Mars 2117 program director. 

Today, we announced that ispace was selected by @MBRSpaceCentre to deliver its “Rashid” lunar rover to the Moon in 2022 on our Mission 1 lunar lander.https://t.co/MD1H5p8MLV

— ispace (@ispace_inc) April 14, 2021

A project in the international space race

The Arab country is determined to impose itself in the international space race. Already in 2019, the country sent the first Emirati into space with a crew of three members and on board a Russian Soyuz rocket for an eight-day mission to the International Space Station. 

Then in February 2021, it was the turn of its Hope probe to successfully orbit Mars to reveal the secrets of the Martian weather.

Discovering unknown areas of the Moon 

The mission was announced by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center during a press briefing in Dubai on Wednesday. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, said that the Emirati rover would cover “areas never before reached during previous exploration missions”. “This machine is part of the strategy of the country to develop new scientific capabilities” he added later since the robot will have the mission to study the properties of the lunar soil, petrography and geology of the moon, but also the movement of dust and the study of the state of the plasma of the lunar surface.

As part of the agreement, the Japanese company iSpace will provide wired communications and power during the cruise phase and wireless communications on the lunar surface.

This project is a first for the United Arab Emirates, as it will be the first mission to the moon by an Arab country. According to the Dubai Information Office, the ten-kilogram rover will be an integral part of efforts to establish the first colony on Mars in 2117, one of the United Arab Emirates’ most ambitious projects.

 

We only have to wish Rover Rashid a good space crossing!