Emirates lunar mission launched successfully

TWITTER/ @HHSHKMOHD

The first Arab mission to the lunar surface has been launched successfully.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the UAE's Rashid rover blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the U.S. on Sunday. The rover was onboard the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by Japanese company ispace.

The four-wheeled rover, weighing 10 kilograms, was built entirely by Emirati engineers from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

The lander's next goal is to land successfully on the Moon. So far, only the United States, former Soviet Union and China have achieved a soft landing on the lunar surface. 

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) said the integrated spacecraft will take a low-energy route to the moon rather than a direct approach, which means the landing will take about five months after launch, in April 2023.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander will deploy two robotic rovers, the UAE's Rashid rover and a two-wheeled, baseball-sized device from Japan's JAXA space agency. It is also carrying an experimental solid-state battery made by NGK Spark Plug Co 5334.T.

The launch was watched in person by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. 

The rover is named in honour of his father, the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Praising the achievement, His Highness wrote said that "reaching the moon means reaching an exceptional milestone in the ambitious march of a country and a people whose aspirations have no ceiling". 

"Our aim is knowledge transfer and developing our capabilities and to add a scientific imprint in the history of humanity," he tweeted.



More from Local News

Blogs