• The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will deliver the UAE's Rashid rover to space. Photo: Salem Al Marri Twitter
    The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will deliver the UAE's Rashid rover to space. Photo: Salem Al Marri Twitter
  • Salem Al Marri, director-general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, in Florida for the launch of the UAE's Rashid lunar rover. Sarwat Nasir / The National
    Salem Al Marri, director-general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, in Florida for the launch of the UAE's Rashid lunar rover. Sarwat Nasir / The National
  • Mr Al Marri believes the launch and arrival of the Rashid rover on the lunar surface could be a "big moment" for the Arab world. Sarwat Nasir / The National
    Mr Al Marri believes the launch and arrival of the Rashid rover on the lunar surface could be a "big moment" for the Arab world. Sarwat Nasir / The National
  • A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Here they are pictured inside the clean room, along with the Rashid rover, in the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on June 15, 2022. Photo: MBRSC
    A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Here they are pictured inside the clean room, along with the Rashid rover, in the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on June 15, 2022. Photo: MBRSC
  • The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, with the UAE's Rashid rover stored inside of it, was shipped to a Florida launch site late October, 2022. Photo: ispace
    The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, with the UAE's Rashid rover stored inside of it, was shipped to a Florida launch site late October, 2022. Photo: ispace
  • World Government Summit Rashid Rover that will be going to the moon. Antonie Robertson/The National
    World Government Summit Rashid Rover that will be going to the moon. Antonie Robertson/The National
  • ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which has the UAE's Rashid rover on board, was integrated onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Photo: ispace
    ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which has the UAE's Rashid rover on board, was integrated onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Photo: ispace
  • Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, said he felt confident that the company's lander, which is carrying the UAE's Rashid rover on board, would make a soft landing on the Moon in 2023. Sarwat Nasir / The National
    Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, said he felt confident that the company's lander, which is carrying the UAE's Rashid rover on board, would make a soft landing on the Moon in 2023. Sarwat Nasir / The National
  • SpaceX's launch and landing control centre in Cape Canaveral.
    SpaceX's launch and landing control centre in Cape Canaveral.

UAE's Rashid rover launch postponed for second day


Sarwat Nasir
  • English
  • Arabic

Officials are hopeful of sending the UAE's Rashid rover into space in the coming days after a second scheduled blast-off from Florida was cancelled early on Thursday.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, with the UAE's Rashid rover inside it, was due to blast off at 12.37pm UAE time.

“After further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, we're standing down from tomorrow's launch of @ispace_inc's HAKUTO-R Mission 1; a new target launch date will be shared once confirmed,” SpaceX wrote on Twitter.

Officials are hopeful of a new launch date in the coming days. An earlier launch on Wednesday was postponed.

Speaking earlier this week, Salem Al Marri, director general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, said the launch will be a “big moment” for the nation.

“It’s our smallest mission so far in terms of size, but with a huge impact … I think it impacts all segments of society,” he said of the Emirates, which sent an astronaut to the International Space Station in 2019 and the Hope probe to Mars last year.

Details about the next launch attempt are expected soon.

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The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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1. Fasting

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Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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ETFs explained

Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.

ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.

There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

Updated: December 12, 2022, 7:00 AM