NASA and UAE Collaborate on Lunar Gateway Airlock Module for Lunar Missions

NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the UAE are partnering for a historic collaboration, with MBRSC providing the Crew and Science Airlock module for NASA’s Gateway Space Station. This alliance signifies a significant step in international space cooperation, strengthening ties and advancing lunar exploration under NASA’s Artemis program, including a future mission with a UAE astronaut on board.

NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have announced a significant collaboration for the Gateway Space Station, marking a historic moment in international space exploration. The partnership involves MBRSC providing the Crew and Science Airlock module for Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon. This strategic alliance reinforces the objectives of NASA’s Artemis program, aimed at achieving long-term lunar exploration and eventually enabling human missions to Mars.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who serves as the chair of the National Space Council, emphasized the importance of international cooperation in space. She stated, “By combining our resources, scientific capacity, and technical skill, the U.S. and UAE will further our collective vision for space and ensure it presents extraordinary opportunities for everyone here on Earth.”

Under the agreement, MBRSC will contribute not only the Crew and Science Airlock module but also a UAE astronaut who will fly to the lunar space station on a future Artemis mission. This collaborative effort expands the existing human spaceflight partnership between MBRSC and NASA, following the UAE’s previous achievements in space, including the 2019 mission where Hazzaa Almansoori became the first Emirati to fly to space.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson hailed the collaboration as a historic moment in the nations’ space exploration efforts. The airlock provided by MBRSC will facilitate groundbreaking science in deep space and support crew and science research transfers between Gateway’s pressurized crew modules and the vacuum of space. The UAE’s role extends beyond the airlock, as MBRSC will also offer engineering support for the duration of the lunar space station’s operational life.

Gateway is designed to support sustained exploration and research in deep space, serving as a habitat for astronauts, a staging point for lunar surface missions, and a platform for conducting spacewalks while orbiting the Moon. The diverse coalition of nations involved in NASA’s Artemis program, including the UAE, represents a unified effort for human exploration beyond Earth, culminating in missions to Mars.

The collaboration builds upon the signing of the Artemis Accords in 2020, where the United States and UAE, among other nations, committed to a set of principles guiding space exploration cooperation. This latest agreement underscores the shared commitment to advancing scientific discovery and human exploration in space, fostering a new era of peaceful and international space exploration.

Through Artemis, NASA aims to make history by landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon’s surface, establishing a sustained lunar presence, and laying the foundation for future human missions to Mars.