UAE LUNAR ROVER TARGETS MOON LANDING NEXT YEAR

Japanese startup Ispace Inc. will deliver a lunar rover under development by the United Arab Emirates to the Moon next year in what will be the Arab world's first lunar mission, according to Kyodo News.

Under the contract recently announced by the Tokyo-based space company and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, Dubai's governmental space agency, Ispace will also provide communications and power during the journey to the Moon and on its surface.

The UAE's rover will be loaded onto a lunar lander that Ispace plans to launch from Florida in the United States using a rocket made by SpaceX, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

The Rashid rover weighing 10 kilograms and measuring about 50 centimeters in length and width and 70 cm in height will be transported in Ispace's lander currently under development. The project marks Ispace's first space mission since its establishment in 2010.

"We are very honored that MBRSC has selected Ispace to play a key role for this historic moment," Takeshi Hakamada, CEO and founder of Ispace, told an online news conference. "Furthermore, we are very pleased to advance our collaboration between the UAE and Japan in space exploration."

If the mission succeeds, Ispace could become the first Japanese private firm to land on the Moon.

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