Expo 2020 Dubai: UAE, Israel to collaborate on 2024 moon mission

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

The UAE will exchange research and develop scientific instruments for the Israeli rocket ship ‘Beresheet-2’ space project that is bound for the moon by 2024.

This comes as the UAE and Israel on Wednesday signed a historic deal to enhance cooperation in scientific research, space exploration and knowledge transfer to accelerate economic growth and human progress.

An agreement was signed between the UAE Space Agency and Israel Space Agency during the ongoing Expo 2020 Dubai’s Space Week.

Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technologies and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said: “Sharing knowledge and expertise is a key part of the UAE’s vision to create an attractive and competitive national space industry. 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 have never been so important as we embrace a new era of space exploration.”

Al Amiri signed the agreement with Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology of Israel.

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

“This agreement builds on the historic Abraham Accords and shares the vision to promote regional peace and prosperity by driving forward economic growth and human progress,” both sides reaffirmed.

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Farkash-Hacohen said: “Governments sign agreements, but people and collaborations are the ones that truly make peace. Israel is an international leader in the worlds of research, space, science and hi-tech. Today, on behalf of the Government of Israel, I am pleased to sign a series of agreements for cooperation with the UAE Space Agency in important and groundbreaking fields."

She also thanked Al Amiri for the significant and collaborative work that done in the past year between the two agencies.

“Thanks to this work, we are already launching advanced initiatives for the benefit of our children’s education and joint research. I share 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,” Farkash-Hacohen said.

• Dubai