According to Hamad Al-Marzouqi, the Rashid spacecraft, named after the ruling family of Dubai, will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida between November 9-15. He added that the exact launch time will be announced in October.
The spacecraft will be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will land on the moon by a Japanese spacecraft in March.
Al-Marzouqi said probe testing is complete and has been integrated with the probe, so it is ready to go.
The UAE aims to become a major player in space exploration.
It will join the United States, Russia and China, who have already reached the moon, on a successful lunar mission with Japan.
A satellite of the United Arab Emirates is already orbiting Mars, studying the atmosphere of the red planet. The UAE, in cooperation with the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, launched the Amal (Hope) probe, which entered orbit around Mars in February 2021.
The Rashid rover is expected to study the lunar surface, as well as the movement on the lunar surface and the interaction of different surfaces with lunar particles. The ten-kilogram trolley is equipped with two high-definition cameras, a microscope camera, a thermal camera, a probe and other devices.
The UAE is also developing the most advanced commercial satellite in the Middle East, capable of producing high-resolution satellite images. It also aims to build a human colony on Mars by 2117.
The picture is an illustration. Cover image source: Getty Images
