The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Rashid rover is set to touch down on the Moon in 2022 aboard Japan's HAKUTO-R lander, developed by ispace. This milestone marks the first lunar landing attempt for both nations.
To date, only three countries—the United States, the Soviet Union, and China—have successfully soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon. While others like India and Israel have faced setbacks, the UAE and Japan are next in line to challenge this elite group.
Originally slated for 2024, the UAE accelerated its lunar ambitions by two years. The mission targets an equatorial lunar zone (exact site TBD) with the compact 10-kilogram, four-wheeled Rashid rover.
On the surface, Rashid will operate for at least one lunar day—roughly 14 Earth days—using a high-resolution camera, thermal imaging, a microscopic imager, and a Langmuir probe. This probe will provide critical insights into the Moon's electrically charged surface environment.
Rashid will hitch a ride to the lunar surface via ispace's HAKUTO-R lander. “The whole world will watch our commercial lander carry the Rashid rover to the Moon,” said ispace Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada. “We are pleased and honored to advance UAE-Japan collaboration in space exploration, as well as to inspire more lunar exploration collaborations between the public and commercial sectors worldwide.”
ispace, founded in 2010, plans a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch for this mission and a second lunar landing in 2023 featuring another rover. Looking ahead, the company aims to ramp up frequent Moon deliveries for client payloads.
“Our landers will deploy swarms of rovers to the lunar surface to become pioneers in the discovery and development of lunar resources, enabling the steady development of lunar industry and sustained human presence on the Moon,” reads an ispace press release.
The UAE recently made headlines with its first interplanetary mission: the Hope orbiter, which has captured stunning images of Mars.
