# Rashid

> lunar rover by the United Arab Emirates, lost in a landing failure by the Hakuto-R M1 spacecraft

**Wikidata**: [Q104859817](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104859817)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_(lunar_rover))  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/rashid-q104859817

## Summary
Rashid was a 10-kg lunar rover built by the United Arab Emirates that was destroyed on 25 April 2023 when its ride, Japan’s Hakuto-R M1 lander, crashed while attempting to touch down in Lacus Somniorum. The small four-wheeled robot, the first Moon rover from the Arab world, had launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 on 11 December 2022.

## Key Facts
- Launch mass: 10 kg – the smallest rover ever slated to operate on the lunar surface.
- Launch date / time: 11 December 2022 at 07:38:13 UTC from Cape Canaveral SLC-40 on Falcon 9 B1073.5.
- Loss date: 25 April 2023; Hakuto-R M1’s landing failure at Lacus Somniorum destroyed both the lander and the rover.
- Owner / builder: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Dubai, UAE.
- Mission: Emirates Lunar Mission – technology demonstration and surface exploration.
- Named after: the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former Ruler of Dubai.
- Alternate names: Rashid lunar rover, Rashid rover.
- Wikipedia coverage: 2 sitelinks; articles exist in English and Japanese.

## FAQs
### Q: Did Rashid ever reach the Moon?
A: No. The rover remained attached to the Hakuto-R M1 lander and was lost when the lander crashed on 25 April 2023.

### Q: How big was Rashid?
A: Official sources list only its mass, 10 kg; physical dimensions have not been published.

### Q: Who paid for the rover?
A: The United Arab Emirates government funded the project through the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

### Q: Was Rashid the first Arab rover to leave Earth?
A: Yes. Although it never landed, it was the first—and so far only—lunar rover built by an Arab country.

## Why It Matters
Rashid was meant to prove that a tiny, resource-constrained nation could join the elite club of lunar surface explorers. At only 10 kg—lighter than a small suitcase—it carried cameras, a thermal imager, and a Langmuir probe to study the Moon’s plasma environment and surface properties. Success would have shown that micro-rovers can gather valuable science at a fraction of the cost of traditional, hundred-kilogram vehicles. The mission also served as a technology-training platform for Emirati engineers, accelerating the UAE’s shift from Earth-orbiting satellites to deep-space exploration. Although the crash ended the attempt, the project established supply chains, testing protocols, and flight-ready hardware that MBRSC is already re-using for future spacecraft. For the global community, Rashid underscored the high risk of lunar landing even when riding on a privately built lander, and it highlighted the growing role of small nations in advancing planetary science.

## Notable For
- First lunar rover built by an Arab country.
- Lightest rover ever dispatched toward the Moon (10 kg).
- First UAE payload to ride on a commercial Japanese lander (Hakuto-R M1).
- One of the earliest payloads to launch on a fifth-flight Falcon 9 Block 5 booster (B1073.5).
- Carried the first Arabic-language plaque intended to rest on the lunar surface.

## Body
### Development
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre unveiled the rover in 2020 as the centerpiece of the Emirates Lunar Mission. Engineers designed a four-wheeled, solar-powered vehicle that could survive the lunar night and relay data through the Hakuto-R lander. The 10-kg mass limit forced miniaturization of electronics, cameras, and a micro-scope-sized Langmuir probe.

### Launch and Cruise
On 11 December 2022 the rover, integrated inside Hakuto-R M1, lifted off on SpaceX Falcon 9 B1073.5. The combined stack reached trans-lunar injection and entered lunar orbit without incident.

### Loss
During final descent on 25 April 2023 the Hakuto-R M1’s onboard radar misjudged altitude; the lander ran out of propellant and free-fell from about 5 km, obliterating itself and Rashid in the impact zone at Lacus Somniorum.

### Aftermath
MBRSC confirmed total loss of the rover within hours. Telemetry indicated Rashid never separated from the lander, so no rover hardware survived. The centre announced that lessons learned—especially in avionics miniaturization and thermal design—are being applied to the MBZ-SAT Earth-observation satellite and to a future lunar rover proposal.

## References

1. [Source](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/24/middleeast/uae-moon-rover-mission-scn-spc-intl/index.html)
2. Jonathan's Space Report
3. [Source](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/25/science/ispace-moon-landing-japan)
4. [Source](https://www.inside.com.tw/article/31438-ispace-HAKUTO-R-landing-moon)
5. [Source](https://www.mbrsc.ae/service/emirates-lunar-mission/)