The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) and the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding. He stipulates the inclusion of the Rashid-2 lunar rover in the Chang’e-7 mission, the launch of which is scheduled for 2026.
Chang’e-7 will be the first mission implemented by the PRC as part of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration program. It will consist of an orbital and a landing module (their total mass will be 8 tons), which will deliver a rover and a moving mini-probe to the south pole of the moon. The mission will be supported by a repeater device. It will be placed in an elliptical orbit around the Moon with a large inclination.
So far, the MBRSC management has not disclosed the technical characteristics of the rover, which will go to the Moon together with Chang’e-7. But it can be assumed that it will have a more complex design than the first Arab lunar rover “Rashid”.
Recall that the mass of “Rashid” is 10 kg, it will receive energy from solar panels. The rover’s scientific equipment includes two high-resolution cameras, a microscope, a thermal imager and a Langmuir probe. The Arab lunar rover will be delivered to the moon by the Hakuto-R spacecraft, built by the Japanese company ispace. It will be launched by a Falcon 9 rocket in November 2022.
The landing site of the Rashid will be the Lake of Dreams — a lunar sea with a diameter of about 400 km, located in the northeastern part of the visible side of the moon of our planet. Its surface is formed by flows of frozen basalt lava. Earth vehicles have not landed in this region yet. In case of a successful lunar landing, Rashid will have to work for one lunar day (14 Earth days).
According to https://spacenews.com
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