{
  "id": 17271005,
  "title": "How the UAE's rocks and soil could become a vital resource for the space race",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/how-the-uaes-rocks-and-soil-could-become-a-vital-resource-for-the-17271005",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T18:01:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/30/how-the-uaes-rocks-and-soil-could-become-a-vital-resource-for-the-space-race/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to become a crucial supplier of rocks and soil for space exploration, according to recent research. Scientists from the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi identified specific areas within the Hajar Mountains in Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Ajman, and Dubai that possess the ideal geology for testing rovers and drills used in missions to the Moon and Mars.\n\nProfessor Kosmas Pavlopoulos, an environmental geomorphology expert at the Sorbonne, expressed excitement over the findings, stating that the results are \"exceptionally promising\". The areas have elevated levels of the necessary minerals and are conveniently close to existing transport and processing infrastructure. Remote sensing data pinpointed prime extraction zones in these four emirates.\n\nExtracting materials that mimic the composition of lunar and Martian soil is vital for developing mission hardware and discovering methods to extract oxygen or construct materials from these celestial bodies. Currently, limited samples from the Moon and Mars are available, with less than 400kg collected from the Moon and none returned from Mars.\n\nThe UAE's local simulant industry would alleviate supply delays and reduce dependency on foreign suppliers while providing affordable materials for universities to build advanced testing facilities and rover testing areas. Establishing a domestic source for simulants would also position the UAE as an international exporter and regional hub for planetary materials, especially as global space activities expand rapidly.",
  "summary": "The UAE is to become an important source of rocks and soil that could be used to help test vehicles and equipment in conditions similar to the Moon or Mars. Researchers have discovered that parts of the Hajar Mountains have geology suitable to test rovers or drills used in space missions . Kosmas Pavlopoulos, professor of environmental geomorphology at the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and a…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}