Correct Answer : Option (D) - China and UAE
* China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to join hands to help further the latter’s space ambitions.
* The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the UAE and the China National Space Agency (CNSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together on the UAE’s moon missions. The agreement marks the first joint space project between the two countries.
* The UAE has been pushing to become an important space player. Its collaboration with China involves the “landing of an MBRSC rover aboard a CNSA lander.” Under the project, the UAE will develop a rover dubbed Rashid-2; China will help it with the landing, data transmission, observation, and control. MBRSC director-general Salem Humaid Al Marri and CNSA deputy director Wu Yanhua signed the MoU.
* The MBRSC is already working with two private-sector partners on its Emirates Lunar Mission, which is scheduled to send the small Rashid rover to the moon late this year. The robotic mission will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and the 22-pound (10 kilograms) Rashid will touch down aboard Hakuto-R, a lander built by the Tokyo company ispace.
* Tapping China for future moon work as well makes a lot of sense, given the nation's impressive lunar exploration record. In the past decade, China has launched three lunar surface missions, all of them successful..
Source : Space
