Arab News Japan

DUBAI: The launch of the UAE’s moon rover has been delayed by one day for “additional pre-flight checks”, it was announced on Wednesday.

A Falcon 9 rocket, named Rashid, is now scheduled to blast off at 3:37 am (0837 GMT) Thursday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, SpaceX said in a statement.

Standing down from launch of ispace's HAKUTO-R Mission 1 to allow for additional pre-flight checkouts; now targeting Thursday, December 1 at 3:37 a.m. ET for liftoff

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 30, 2022

The Emirati-built rover will be stored inside Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which will transport the vessel to the Moon’s surface.

Measuring just over 2 by 2.5 meters, it carries on board a 10-kilogram rover is due to land on around April 2023 on the visible side of the Moon, in the Atlas crater, according to a company statement.

Once launched, the integrated spacecraft will take a low-energy route to the moon rather than a direct approach.

Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander mission milestones. (ispace)

Until now, only the United States, Russia and China have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface. If it succeeds, Rashid will be the Arab world’s first Moon mission. The mission will also see the first spacecraft funded and built by a private Japanese firm to land on the moon.

*with AFP