The United Arab Emirates will launch its first lunar rover in November, according to the mission manager.
The "Rashid" rover, named after Dubai's royal dynasty, will be launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center between November 9 and November 15. The precise date will be revealed next month.
The rover will be launched atop a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket in March and landed on the moon by a Japanese ispace lander.
We've finished testing the rover, and we're pleased with the results, according to Al Marzooqi. The lander and rover have been integrated and are ready for launch.
The lunar mission is part of the UAE's larger plan to become a prominent leader in space exploration. If the moon mission is successful, the UAE and Japan will join only the United States, Russia, and China as nations that have placed a spacecraft on the lunar surface.
An Emirati spacecraft is already circling Mars to examine its atmosphere. The UAE collaborated with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to launch the mission, which will orbit Mars in February 2021. The Rashid rover will investigate the lunar surface, surface mobility, and how various surfaces interact with lunar particles. Two high-resolution cameras, a tiny camera, a thermal imaging camera, a probe, and other instruments will be carried by the 10-kilogram (22-pound) rover.
The UAE intends to build the most modern commercial satellite in the Middle East, capable of producing high-resolution satellite imagery. It has also set the lofty objective of establishing a human colony on Mars by the year 2117.