UAE To Attempt Historic Far Side Moon Landing With Rashid Rover 2 (image- X/HamdanMohammed)
Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum had announced the launch of Rashid Rover 2, the UAE’s second mission to the Moon’s surface. The recent announcement had come in the wake of the new deal between 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.
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I witnessed the signing of a strategic agreement between MBRSC and US-based Firefly Aerospace to provide the payload delivery services for the Rashid 2 Rover, as part of the Emirates Lunar Mission scheduled for 2026. The mission is set to make the UAE only the second country in… pic.twitter.com/n9cNrykQoe
— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) May 22, 2025
“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,” he added.
The Rashid Rover 2 will be deployed to the far side of the Moon on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander stacked on the Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, reports Gulf News. It will join the Blue Ghost Mission 2, in 2026, which will be Firefly Aerospace’s second lunar mission, alongside payloads from Australia, the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA.
The new Rashid Rover 2 was announced in April 2023 by the Crown Prince of Dubai. It was the first Arab mission to the lunar surface. However, unfortunately, it crash-landed on the lunar surface after the Japanese landing vehicle failed in soft landing.
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The Rashid 2 is also designed to achieve the same targets as the initial ones. These include studying regolith, or lunar soil, testing new materials for lunar exploration, capturing high-resolution images, and analysing the lunar surface environment. MBRSC has outlined a set of ambitious scientific goals for the Rashid 2 Rover, which will demonstrate lunar surface mobility on the far side of the moon — where terrain and communication pose greater challenges than the near side.
