The United Arab Emirates has announced the launch of a new space mission to the International Space Station that will last for six months.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed a new strategic cooperation in human spaceflight with Axiom Space Inc. a leading human spaceflight and infrastructure company.
Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said: "We launched the " UAE Astronaut programme" more than five years ago. The UAE sent the first Arab astronaut on a historic trip to the International Space Station... Today we announce a new cooperation between the UAE and the United States of America to send an Emirati astronaut on the first long-term mission aboard the International Space Station".
"Signing the agreement to send the first Arab astronaut in a long-term mission of 180 days to the International Space Station is new milestone for the UAE space sector. The UAE will be among 11 countries in the world that carried out long-term space missions," he added.
MBRSC currently has four Astronauts training at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, this training will prepare them for long duration human spaceflight.
The planned space mission to the ISS will include an Emirati astronaut and his counterparts from the US. The team will be conducting experiments and managing the operations of the station. They will be welcomed on board the space station by a team of Russian cosmonauts as well as American and European astronauts.
On board the ISS, the Emirati astronaut will conduct a series of complex and advanced experiments, and in depth public outreach and education programme requiring a longer stay of 180 days until September 2023. The results of his mission are expected to have significant impacts that will benefit the global space community. The results of his mission are expected to have significant impacts that will benefit the global space community.
The mission marks another important milestone for the UAE’s national space programme, where another Emirati astronaut will be sent to the ISS, which will be the longest amount of time that an Emirati or Arab astronaut has stayed in space. It comes after the historic feat of Hazzaa Al Mansoori who reached the space station aboard the Soyuz MS15 spacecraft on 25th September, 2019.
At the end of his flight, Al Mansoori returned to Earth eight days later bringing with him important data and information obtained from several scientific experiments he conducted during his stay.
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