Sheikh Hamdan says UAE to attempt to land on far side of the Moon

This will be the Emirates' second attempt to reach lunar surface with small robotic rover

A rendering of Firefly's Blue Ghost 2 mission. Photo: Firefly Aerospace

The UAE is about to attempt to become only the second nation to land on the far side of the Moon, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, has said.

Sheikh Hamdan made his comments in the wake of a deal between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the US-based Firefly Aerospace to provide the payload delivery services for the Rashid 2 rover, forming a vital part of the Emirates Lunar Mission scheduled for 2026.

"The mission is set to make the UAE only the second country in history to attempt a landing on the Moon's far side, placing the nation at the forefront of space exploration," Sheikh Hamdan said on X on Thursday.

"The UAE continues to strengthen its role as a major global player in advancing space exploration. Driven by the talent of our youth, the UAE’s journey in space reflects the same ambition and excellence that define our progress on Earth."

Only one country has successfully landed on the far side of the Moon to date. China made history in 2019 when its Chang'e-4 mission landed in the Von Karman crater.

MBRSC has now selected Firefly Aerospace to carry its second lunar rover, Rashid 2, to the Moon. It will travel into space aboard the Blue Ghost 2 lander, currently scheduled for launch in early 2026 for a landing attempt on the Moon’s far side - the unlit part - for a 10-day mission.

It will be the space centre’s second attempt to land a rover on the Moon following the unsuccessful Rashid 1 mission in April 2023. The first rover, part of Japan’s Hakuto-R Mission 1, was lost when the lander crashed into the lunar surface.

Firefly is one of only two companies that has managed to land safely on the Moon. Its Blue Ghost 1 vehicle touched down on March 2. Intuitive Machines, another US company, carried out the first successful private mission to the Moon’s surface last year.

Both companies are part of Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, which awards contracts to companies developing lunar vehicles that can deliver scientific and technology payloads to the surface.

MBRSC engineers pictured inside a clean room with the first Rashid rover, a mission in 2023 that failed after the Japanese landing vehicle carrying it crashed on the lunar surface. Photo: MBRSC

Firefly’s second mission to the Moon involves the Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, a spacecraft that will deploy the Blue Ghost 2 lander and the European Space Agency’s Lunar Pathfinder satellite. From there, Blue Ghost 2 will attempt a landing on the lunar surface.

Apart from the UAE's Rashid 2, the landing vehicle is carrying technology from a few other clients, including Nasa and the US Department of Energy, Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Australian Space Agency.

The Rashid 2 rover was designed to achieve the same targets that the initial one was meant to carry out. These include studying regolith, or lunar soil, testing new materials for lunar exploration, capturing high-resolution images and analysing the lunar surface environment.