UAE’s Rashid Rover 2 Moon mission hits new milestone: Radar to probe 100 metres below lunar surface

Dubai: The UAE has reached another milestone on its road to the Moon. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai announced on Tuesday that it has completed the integration of RTx, a ground-penetrating radar transmitter, onto Rashid Rover 2.

The step moves the Emirates Lunar Mission closer to its journey to the far side of the Moon.

The new payload will let the rover send radio signals that can probe up to 100 metres below the lunar surface, giving scientists a rare look at what lies beneath.

Second chance on the Moon

Rashid Rover 2 was announced after Rashid Rover 1, the first Arab mission to the lunar surface, crash-landed in April 2023, when the landing vehicle carrying it failed to make a soft landing.

Since then, the UAE has been preparing its second attempt. Earlier in 2025, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, witnessed the signing of a strategic agreement between MBRSC and Firefly Aerospace, under which the company's lunar lander will carry Rashid Rover 2 to the Moon.

MBRSC completed the rover's development after tests in the UAE and abroad. It underwent thermal vacuum testing at the French space agency CNES in Toulouse. Back in the UAE, engineers tested its solar panels and the deployment of its antenna and robotic arm under simulated lunar gravity. Vibration tests at EARTH, a subsidiary of EDGE Group, simulated the stresses of launch, lunar landing and touchdown. The rover was then sent to the United States for the next phase of preparations with Firefly.

What RTx will do

The rover is now undergoing payload integration and mission-readiness activities ahead of its expected launch onboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 2, MBRSC revealed.

Once on the lunar surface, it will study the Moon's terrain, surface composition and thermal properties. It will also examine how different materials interact with the lunar environment, study plasma activity near the surface, and collect data to support the design of future lunar missions.

RTx is a collaboration between NASA, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Heliospace Corp. and Southwest Research Institute. The signals it transmits will be received by the LuSEE-Night radioastronomy spectrometer on the lander.

This will help scientists better understand the Moon's meteorite-bombardment history and the presence of iron-titanium minerals in the subsurface. MBRSC and NASA are also discussing opportunities to use RTx as part of a future Moon Base collaboration.

'Unique data'

Dr Hamad Al Marzooqi, Project Manager of the Emirates Lunar Mission at MBRSC, said: "The integration of RTx payload is yet another milestone in preparing Rashid Rover 2 to the far side of the Moon. The new payload expands the mission's scientific value, by enabling us to gain new insights into the Moon's formation, history and mineral composition. As we continue towards mission-readiness, our focus remains on ensuring that Rashid Rover 2 is equipped to deliver unique data that will support future lunar exploration."

The Emirates Lunar Mission is funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), which aims to support research and development in the ICT sector in the UAE.