Tomorrow.. the launch of the UAE lunar rover

The Emirati "Mohammed Bin Rashid" Space Center announced that the UAE's "Rover" lunar  is scheduled to launch today, November 30, from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida, and it may be postponed to another day due to weather conditions or other issues.

Rover tests completed 

On October 13, the Mohammed bin Rashid Center announced the completion of the "Rover" tests and its readiness for the mission to the moon.

The first lunar mission in the Arab world

The launch of the UAE’s moon rover has been delayed by one day for “additional pre-flight checks".

Rashid Rover, the Arab world’s first lunar mission, is now scheduled to launch at 8:37 a.m. (GMT) on Thursday, Dec.1, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, SpaceX said in a statement.

The UAE’s lunar mission is the product of a partnership with SpaceX and Japan-based ispace inc., which created the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.

The Emirati-made Rashid rover, weighing 10 kilograms and stored inside the Japanese lander, is due to land around April 2023 on the visible side of the Moon, in the Atlas crater after a five-month journey.

Once launched, the integrated spacecraft will take a low-energy route to the moon rather than a direct approach, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center earlier said.

The space trip to the Moon takes approx  5 months

The rover will be launched by the "Falcon 9" missile of the American company "SpaceX", which will transport to the moon some private and government shipments, including the rover, and it is expected that the space trip to the moon will take about 5 months.

   It is noteworthy that the Japanese company Ispace is the manufacturer of the HAKUTO-R landing platform, which will deliver the 10-kilogram rover to the surface of the moon.

If the lunar mission succeeds, the UAE will be the fourth country to land on the moon. The mission will also see the first spacecraft funded and built by a private Japanese firm to land on the moon.