UAE Partners with China on Moon Missions

A few weeks ago, China announced that NASA had found minerals on the Moon right after the Artemis mission launches failed, and that it would start the 3-Moon mission in the next 10 years to extract these minerals. According to the Chinese National Space Agency’s statement, this new mineral found on the Moon could be the fuel of the future.

Another country that aims to take big steps towards lunar missions is the United Arab Emirates, which has been trying to take a place in the space race recently. The latest news now shows that China and the UAE will start their Moon mission partnerships.

United Arab Emirates to go on Moon missions with China

Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), NASA of the United Arab Emirates, announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Space Agency of China. Under the agreement, the United Arab Emirates will work with China on its lunar missions. It would not be wrong to say that this partnership is important for both countries.

MBRSC is currently working with two private sector partners for the Emirates Moon Mission scheduled for this month. To accomplish the mission, MBRSC’s 10-kilogram Rashid spacecraft will be placed atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will land on the Hakuto-R, a lander built by Tokyo company ispace.

China, on the other hand, is a country with crazy projects such as mineral extraction in its future lunar missions, and all the partners it will acquire in this race will strengthen its hand in the future. While it has done well so far against a major competitor like the US, it is the first time China and the UAE have partnered in a space mission, at a significant time that this step would not be limited to the UAE’s Moon missions alone.

Although it is not possible to say in which missions the two countries will be partners on the Moon in the future, the Moon will turn into a great competitive area when considering missions such as NASA’s Artemis mission, and it will probably be in China’s interest if the UAE is on the side of China.

Having managed to find a place for itself in the space race, it is a very good move for the UAE to partner with China, as China has completed 3 months of missions in the past 10 years, all of which have been successful, and plans to carry out 3 more in the next 10 years. It looks like we will witness a second international space race. What are you thinking? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.