UAE's First Moon Mission To Launch Soon From Florida

A new launch date has been set for the first Emirati mission to the moon.

Japanese lunar exploration company iSpace founder Takeshi Hakamada announced on Thursday that the UAE's Moon mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Launch Complex 40 launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 28.

Hakamada made the announcement during a Mission 1 pre-launch press conference from Tokyo, as he cited the adverse impact of Hurricane Nicole on Florida. Depending on weather conditions at that time, the rocket will launch at 12:46 p.m. GST, and will deliver the UAE's Rashid Rover on iSpace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander on the lunar surface.

"After repeated discussions with Space X and confirming the status from the launch site in Florida, we have been impacted by the hurricane, but I am very pleased to be able to announce the date of the launch," said Hakamada. "Our first mission will lay the groundwork for unleashing the moon's potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system."

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be the first to carry UAE's commercial cargo mission to the moon. The Emirati Rashid Rover is expected to reach the moon's Atlas Crater on the south-eastern outer edge of the Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold in late April. Weighing 10 kilograms, the four-wheel rover was built by a team of Emirati engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai.

The rover will spend one lunar day or 14 Earth days on the lunar surface to study its geology and lunar dust. It is also expected to take images of the moon with its high-resolution cameras.

The official 10-day countdown until the UAE's Moon mission has begun. The Emirati engineers from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre are already in Florida, preparing for the launch. Salem Al Marri, Director General of the MBRSC, took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that their team had already arrived in Florida for the lift-off of the moon mission.

"In Florida this week with our team, we are preparing for the launch of the 1st Emirati mission to the Moon... we are preparing with NASA for Sultan Al Neyadi's launch next year," he tweeted.