UAE Moon mission announces new launch date

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has announced a new date for the launch attempt of the UAE’s first mission to the Moon. The Rashid Rover will now blast off to the lunar surface on Wednesday, November 30, at 12.39pm UAE time.

The Emirates Lunar Mission was supposed to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 28. Japan-based ispace inc (ispace), which will land the Emirati rover on the Moon, said the updated schedule is the result of “launch constraints such as unfavourable weather conditions”.

The new date and times are “subject to change depending on weather and other conditions”, ispace added.

The MBRSC said the integrated launch vehicle will start rolling out to the launch pad — Space Launch Complex 40 — at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida soon.

Once launched, the spacecraft will take a low-energy route to the Moon rather than a direct approach. This means that the rover will land about five months after the launch — in April 2023.

The M1 lunar lander was delivered by cargo plane to the US last month. It will carry multiple commercial and government payloads, including two rovers to the surface of the Moon.

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The Rashid Rover — named after the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai — has cleared all the required tests.

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