UAE and Israel to collaborate on lunar mission

The UAE and Israel will collaborate on space projects, including a lunar mission.

It's part of a wider agreement between the countries to enhance cooperation in space exploration, research, knowledge transfer and more.

The UAE Space Agency signed the pact with the Israel Space Agency on the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai's Space Week.

The agreement lays the framework for a mutually beneficial strategic partnership that will strengthen efforts to gather and analyse scientific space data.

The UAE will exchange research and develop scientific instruments for Israel’s Beresheet-2 mission to land a spacecraft on the Moon by 2024 as part of the landmark partnership.

Universities in Israel and the UAE will also launch collaborative research projects.

They include exploring the red tide phenomenon, analysing red palm weevil infestation which threatens date palm cultivation, and mapping aerosols – solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere.

Vegetation and environmental data gathered by a microsatellite used by the Israel Space Agency and the French Space Agency will also be shared with the UAE.

The latest agreement builds on the historic Abraham Accords and the shared vision of the two countries to promote regional peace and prosperity by driving forward economic growth and human progress.

"If you look at the most successful global space programmes in history, the common denominator is collaboration. Israel has a globally recognised space industry and developing bilateral and multilateral partnerships has never been so important as we embrace a new era of space exploration," explained Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technologies and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.

"I share Minister Al Amiri's vision of harnessing science and space not only as an economic stimulus but also for bringing hearts together and educating our next generation," said Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology.