Sheikh Hamdan Announces UAE’s Historic Lunar Space Mission

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum the Crown Prince of Dubai made an important announcement about the UAE’s space mission while establishing a remarkable record in the nation’s space development goals.

The UAE executed a cooperation agreement with Thales Alenia Space through a statement on X (formerly Twitter) to establish the company as its strategic Lunar Gateway Space Station collaborator. The upcoming mission will create conditions for the first Emirati Arab astronaut to conduct lunar orbital activities.

UAE’s Role in Lunar Exploration
MBRSC functions as the leading UAE organization for executing the scientific mission of the project. Sheikh Hamdan designated this space project as essential to establishing permanent lunar settlement and establishing future interplanetary exploration capabilities.

The signing ceremony was accompanied by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the Vice President of the UAE,the Ruler of Dubai, together with HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the Vice President of the UAE.

UAE’s Growing Space Ambitions
The United Arab Emirates has demonstrated remarkable progress in space exploration through its impressive series of achievements.

MBZSAT became the UAE’s latest high-tech imaging satellite when SpaceX launched it through a Falcon 9 rocket in January 2025.
In 2021 the Hope Probe navigated into Mars’ orbital path this made it the first Arab interplanetary space mission.
The nation achieved a space milestone when it launched Hazzaa AlMansoori to the International Space Station (ISS) during 2020.
The United States, Japan and Canada and the European Union collaborate with the UAE to establish their position as a leading force in lunar research and space exploration.