UAE on track to launch first lunar rover November

Edinburgh, 14 October 2022. – The United Arab Emirates is on track to launch its lunar rover Rashid to Moon between 9-15th November despite Hurricane Ian in Florida, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre said. The rover will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral.

The rover, which will be the first Arab lunar mission, has passed all required tests. Rashid, designed and developed fully by an Emirati team, is now ready to be integrated with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

The rover went through a series of external and internal reviews over the last four months to test each system and subsystem. Rashid also completed a series of environmental tests including thermal and vacuum tests as well as vibration and shock checks. The final test phase comprised instrument alignment checks and a final functional test of the integrated system.

The primary goal of ELM is to study the Moon’s plasma, dust, surface, and mobility on the lunar surface. The Emirates Lunar Mission (ELM) is funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.