UAE to launch unmanned spacecraft to moon in 2024

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) today (Tuesday) has announced to launch an unmanned rover to the moon by 2024 as it seeks to expand its space sector.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai emirate, made the announcement on Twitter. “The Emiratis now have their sights on the moon,” he remarked.

“It will be an Emirati-made lunar rover that will land on the surface of the moon in 2024 in areas that have not been explored previously by human missions,” he added.  

أطلقنا بحمد الله مشروعاً إمارتياً جديداً لاستكشاف القمر ..سيكون عبارة عن مستكشف قمري إماراتي الصنع سيهبط على سطح القمر في 2024 في مناطق لم تصلها البعثات البشرية السابقة لاستكشافها..أسمينا المستكشف القمري “راشد” تيمناً بباني نهضة دبي..والذي علمنا كيف تكون أحلامنا كبيرة وبعيدة.. pic.twitter.com/slTqmyi1b1

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) September 29, 2020

He also said that participating in the moon exploration is part of the UAE’s space strategy to advance the country’s scientific, technical and research environment.

“The lunar rover will be built 100 percent on the state’s land and by Emirati engineers,” Sheikh Mohammed added. The announcement came after the UAE launched a Mars probe earlier this year.

The UAE launched an unmanned spacecraft from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre bearing the ‘Hope’ probe destined for Mars, in the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission.

Earlier in September 2019, the oil-rich country sent the first Emirati into space as part of a three-member crew that blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan for an eight-day mission.

If successful in 2024, the UAE could become the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. India, Israel and Japan have tried but failed in landing a spacecraft on the moon.