China and UAE on Saturday signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to aid the UAE to land its first rovers on the moon.
The agreement, signed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), included approval of future cooperation for the UAE’s lunar missions.
The project includes a spacecraft on the moon called Rashid-2 that the UAE will develop with China’s service for landing, data transmission, as well as monitoring and control.
This is the first cooperation between the two countries in the space sector.
MBRSC said that the agreement paved the way for future projects between China and the UAE.
“The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, which stipulates the centre’s collaboration with the CNSA in landing a rover developed by MBRSC for a future Moon exploration mission, … marks the start of the first joint space project between China and the UAE, laying the groundwork for future opportunities for space co-operation between the two parties,” it said.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center was established in 2006 and is responsible for developing the UAE’s National Space Program.
The centre includes more than 200 engineers working in the Emirates Satellite Program, the Emirates Astronaut Program, the Emirates Mars Exploration Mission, and the Mars 2117 Program.
