The UAE has officially started work on the historic Gateway Lunar Space Station project, which will be humanity’s first space station that will orbit the Moon.

The project, in collaboration with the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will see the UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) construct the Gateway’s Crew and Science Airlock module or the ‘Emirates Airlock’, as well as provide engineering support for life on the lunar space station.

The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.

In a post on X, Salem Humaid Al Marri, the director general of the MBRSC shared an update on the project, while sharing first images of the Gateway.

“This week, we started the work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station after our leadership announced the UAE’s participation in the project,” Al Marri wrote.

The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.

“We had several meetings with the Gateway team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to coordinate the efforts, and our team at MBRSC is starting to work on the #EmiratesAirlock, which will used in the first lunar station in history,” he added.

The lunar space station will support long-term exploration of the Moon under NASA’s Artemis project, which is focused on returning humans to the lunar surface and establishing sustainable long-term missions.

The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.

The international project will see a collaboration between the UAE, the US, Japan, Canada, and the European Union, which will also include sending the first Emirati astronaut into lunar orbit.

The first elements of Gateway are expected to be launched by 2025, while the Emirates Airlock is scheduled to be launched by 2030.

The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.
The UAE has commenced work on the Gateway Lunar Space Station project. Images courtesy of Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on X.

The UAE has been actively investing in its space programme in recent years, with Hazzaa Al Mansoori becoming the first Emirati to fly to space in 2019 during a short mission to the International Space Station.

A second Emirati astronaut, Sultan Al Neyadi, launched to the space station in 2023 on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission, where he participated in the floating laboratory’s scientific research that advances human knowledge and improves life on Earth.

(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)

bindu.rai@lseg.com