Lunar lander chief 'very confident' of successful Rashid rover launch tomorrow


Sarwat Nasir
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Follow the latest news on the UAE's Rashid Rover moon launch

The chief of the lunar exploration company carrying the UAE’s Rashid rover on its lander has said he is “very confident” as the mission nears lift-off.

“It’s a great, exciting moment,” Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of ispace, told The National in Florida ahead of the launch.

The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by ispace, was integrated on to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for a launch on November 30 at 12.39pm UAE time from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

On board the privately funded lander is a small rover developed by engineers at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, which aims to spend 14 days studying an unexplored region of the Moon.

Once SpaceX delivers the lander to its intended orbit in space on Wednesday, it will begin its solo journey to the Moon, with a landing expected at the end of April.

“We started this company 12 years ago, so we’ve come a long way, but we’ve already achieved so much and I really appreciate all the people who supported this mission,” Mr Hakamada said.

“Also, I’m very confident on this first mission because our engineers put best effort possible to mature our technology and we integrated external knowledge as well.”

Landmark mission for private space industry, the UAE and Japan

If ispace manages to achieve a lunar landing, it would help the UAE place the Arab world’s first rover on the Moon’s surface.

It would also make the company the first to land a privately led mission on the Moon.

In the future, ispace hopes to provide regular delivery services to the Moon for government and private sector clients.

This will be a technology demonstration mission that is carrying multiple payloads, including from Japan’s space agency Jaxa, Nasa and Canada.

However, landing on the Moon is no easy task with one-third of missions failing.

Only the US, the former Soviet Union and China have achieved soft landings on the lunar surface.

Most recently, landers from India and Israel have crash-landed on the surface.

Because the Moon has no atmosphere, spacecraft have to carry out complex manoeuvres instead of using parachutes to slow down like during landings on Earth and Mars.

“Lunar missions are not easy, however, it’s not impossible,” said Mr Hakamada.

“We know that we’ve had several lunar landings during the Apollo era and recently by China.”

From humble beginnings

Ispace was a small start-up a decade ago, but now it is one of the fastest growing private lunar exploration companies.

In 2017, it managed to raise $90.2 million in funding from the Google Lunar X Prize, a competition that aims to boost lunar exploration efforts.

“Since then, we have been growing a lot,” said Mr Hakamada.

“And right now we have over 200 employees globally, including in Japan, US and Europe.”

The company also won a contract by Nasa to collect lunar regolith, or soil, and transfer ownership to the space agency.

Other companies are also attempting to achieve lunar landings.

US-based company Astrobotic plans to launch its Peregrine lander in early 2023, with payloads from eight countries.

What does this mission mean for the UAE?

The Rashid rover is the first mission under the UAE long-term Moon exploration programme.

It will study the properties of lunar soil, the petrography and geology of the Moon, dust movement and study surface plasma conditions and the Moon's photoelectron sheath.

Lunar dust is one of the main challenges astronauts face on the Moon, as it sticks to spacesuits, causing erosion and operational problems.

With space agencies determined to send humans to the Moon again, razor-sharp lunar dust particles remain a concern as they stick to nearly everything.

A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Here they are pictured inside the clean room, along with the Rashid rover, in the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on June 15, 2022. Photo: MBRSC
A small team of Emirati engineers have developed the UAE's lunar mission. Here they are pictured inside the clean room, along with the Rashid rover, in the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre on June 15, 2022. Photo: MBRSC

The Rashid rover is designed to address this problem with an experiment that will test different materials against the dust.

Called the material adhesive experiment, a variety of test samples would be attached to the rover’s wheels.

In addition, mission control in Dubai is expecting to receive thousands of images from the rover.

The rover is named in honour of the late Sheikh Rashid Al Saeed, the former Ruler of Dubai and the father of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

Emirati engineers are already working on Rashid 2, which will launch on China's Chang’e-7 lunar south pole mission in 2026.

The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte

Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000

Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8

Transmission Eight-speed automatic

Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm

Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm

Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km

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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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·         Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.

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The specs: 2018 Peugeot 5008

Price, base / as tested: Dh99,900 / Dh134,900

Engine: 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power: 165hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 240Nm @ 1,400rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 5.8L / 100km

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Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19

July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan

Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US

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Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE

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Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

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Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 290hp

Torque: 340Nm

Price: Dh155,800

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Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Founded: January 2019

Number of employees: 10

Sector: Technology/Social media 

Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support

 

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Updated: November 30, 2022, 4:30 AM