The UAE will participate in a global project to build and launch the first space station around the moon. On Sunday, the country's space engineers announced a 10-tonne 'Crew and Science' airlock would be built on the Lunar Gateway.
Launched in 2025, the small space station will be a multipurpose outpost orbiting the moon.
Additionally, the UAE will send the first Arab and Emirati astronaut to the Moon's orbit. Under the agreement signed between the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and Nasa, a UAE astronaut will “fly to the lunar space station on a future Artemis mission”.
UAE-built airlock
Astronauts will be able to live and work at Gateway. It will serve as a staging point for lunar surface missions and an opportunity to conduct spacewalks while orbiting the Moon.
According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the UAE-built airlock will enable astronauts to conduct "groundbreaking science" in deep space and "prepare to one day send humanity to Mars."
In addition to operating the airlock, Nasa says the MBRSC will provide engineering support to the lunar space station throughout its life. “The airlock will allow crew and science research transfers to and from the habitable environment of Gateway’s pressurized crew modules to the vacuum of space. "These transfers will support broader science in the deep space environment as well as Gateway maintenance," Nasa stated.
Emirati astronaut to the Moon
There are four UAE astronauts who are ready for missions. Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi have already flown to space; while Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammed AlMulla are training at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston.
This latest cooperation builds on Nasa and UAE's previous human spaceflight collaboration. In 2019, Al Mansoori became the first Emirati to fly to space during a short mission to the International Space Station. Sultan AlNeyadi launched to the space station in 2023 for a six-month mission.
“‘We want to go to the Moon’ were my first words after returning to Earth,” said Al-Neyadi. The development of the airlock on the Lunar Gateway and preparations for the first Arab astronaut mission to the Moon have turned this ambition into a reality. My colleagues and I are ready.
Getting ready for the moon
Additionally, the UAE will establish two facilities in the Emirates: one for astronaut training and one for lunar station operations.
In establishing Nasa's Lunar Gateway station, the UAE joins the US, Japan, Canada, and the European Union.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the UAE is "determined to work alongside its international partners to enable collective progress for all".
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the lunar space station would help humans return to the Moon. “Work will begin immediately. The UAE will be part of the project representing one of humanity’s greatest ambitions in space during the next decade.”
In 2020, the UAE became among the first signatories of NASA’s ArtemisAccords. Nasa will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon through Artemis.