UAE plans to send unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024

The United Arab Emirates is planning to launch its first-ever mission to the moon by 2024, with an unmanned spacecraft, UAE Vice President and Dubai ruler Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum said Tuesday.

The lunar rover the country is planning to launch will send back images and data from new sites on the moon that have yet to be explored by previous missions. The information will be shared with global research centers and institutions, he tweeted.

We are launching the first-ever Arab mission to the moon by 2024. The lunar rover will send back images & data from new sites of the moon that haven’t been explored by previous lunar missions. The gathered data will be shared with global research centers & institutions. pic.twitter.com/b4NQ3reLIq

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) September 29, 2020

The rover will be 100 percent manufactured and developed in the UAE by Emirati Engineers, according to Mohammed.

The rover will be 100% manufactured and developed in the UAE by Emirati Engineers. The UAE will be the fourth country in the world to send a mission to explore the moon. We will continue our contribution to the global pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of humanity. pic.twitter.com/1jemoipz7v

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) September 29, 2020

If the mission is successful, the UAE will be the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, following the U.S., the Soviet Union and China. 

The U.S. last month published its Artemis plan aimed at landing the first women and next man on the surface of the moon by 2024. NASA’s nearly $28 billion plan includes launching two missions without astronauts in 2021 and 2023, before planning to send astronauts back to the lunar surface by the 2024 goal.