China and the United Arab Emirates will launch a moon mission together, scheduled for 2026. This will be the UAE’s first moon landing if successful.
The mission aims to explore the south polar region of the moon which may provide “good lighting conditions, safe landing areas and proximity to permanently shadowed craters that are thought to contain cold-trapped volatiles including water ice,” according to Space News.
China has already begun work on an International Lunar Research Station with Russia and successfully landed two rover missions and collected lunar samples.
