The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre is home to the UAE space programme. Recently, the centre announced the launch of the Emirates Lunar Mission, the first Emirati and Arab mission to explore the Moon Shutterstock

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre is home to the UAE space programme. Recently, the centre announced the launch of the Emirates Lunar Mission, the first Emirati and Arab mission to explore the Moon Shutterstock

The Japanese firm, which has a subsidiary in Luxembourg, will transport the Rashid rover to the moon on its lunar lander during Mission 1, part of its commercial programme known as ‘HAKUTO-R’.

In a press statement dated Thursday, ispace said that in addition to payload delivery services, it will also provide wired communication and power during the cruise phase, and engage in wireless communication on the lunar surface. Ispace was selected as a partner based on its technological credibility, the firm said.

Upon the execution of the mission, the UAE and Japan, together, are anticipated to be the next two nations to successfully put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, following the United States, Russia and China.

Founded in 2010, ispace is part of a team led by Draper, which was selected by Nasa to compete in its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program, and ispace Europe was selected by ESA to be part of the Science Team for Prospect, a programme which seeks to extract water on the Moon. Its Luxembourg office is working on rover technology for this purpose.