Europe's space chief looks to the UAE for collaborations on Moon exploration
A European satellite that sees beneath the sand could help transform understanding of the Gulf’s desert surfaces. Since launching last year, Biomass has already found old riverbeds and ancient settlements buried under sand and soil around the world. It is one of the space technologies that the head of the European Space Agency will highlight in his first visit to the UAE next week – in his bid to…
European Space Agency (ESA) Director-General Josef Aschbacher will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week to discuss potential collaborations in Moon exploration and Earth observation. This comes as ESA seeks to strengthen partnerships following funding cuts to its NASA counterpart under the previous US administration. The UAE has ambitious plans to become one of the world's leading space economies by 2031, with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre leading the charge in building and launching lunar rovers.
Aschbacher hopes to discuss a potential trilateral mission, LUNA Bridge, involving the UAE's rover, developed by the Japanese company ispace, and ESA. The visit also aims to explore opportunities for Emirati astronauts to fly alongside European counterparts on future missions, including a potential joint flight on ESA's EPIC to the International Space Station.
ESA's expertise in training astronauts, lunar activities, and Earth observation gives it an edge over competing private space companies, but Aschbacher emphasizes the stability provided by ESA's model of 23 member states, ensuring long-term cooperation regardless of political shifts in individual countries.
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