The United States and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to expand cooperation on space research and human exploration.
Officials from NASA and the National Space Council met with leaders of the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Washinton to discuss future collaboration.
“The UAE is proud to work with partners across the U.S. to build upon humanity’s collective understanding of the cosmos,” said UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba.
The partnership builds upon previous commitments between the two countries to collaborate on NASA’s Gateway lunar space station.
The MBRSC, a government organization, is developing a crew and science airlock module for the lunar space station.
As part of an implementing arrangement between MBRSC and NASA, an Emirati astronaut is also expected to fly on a future Artemis mission to visit the lunar Gateway.
Previous U.S.-UAE collaboration has also led to space missions. In 2021, the UAE’s Hope Probe began orbiting Mars to examine the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
In 2019, NASA and the MBRSC also worked together to launch Hazzaa AlMansoori to the International Space Station for experiments.