14-05-2025
Donald Trump meets Mohammed bin Salman: Nasa to fly Saudi CubeSat to Moon
Nasa and the Saudi Space Agency have signed a new agreement to send a Saudi CubeSat on Nasa's Artemis II test flight, marking a new chapter in international space announcement was made in Riyadh by President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the president's visit to Saudi Saudi CubeSat, a small satellite about the size of a shoebox, will be deployed in high Earth orbit from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket once Nasa's Orion spacecraft is safely on its way to the Moon with its crew of four
This compact satellite will carry instruments to measure key aspects of space weather, including space radiation, solar X-rays, solar energetic particles, and magnetic fields at various distances from Artemis II mission is Nasa's first crewed flight under the Artemis program, aiming to send humans around the Moon and back on a 10-day the Orion crew explores beyond Earth, the CubeSats-including those from Saudi Arabia, Germany, and South Korea-will detach from the SLS rocket to conduct scientific investigations in high Earth CubeSats are designed to test new technologies and collect data that will improve our understanding of the space environment, which is vital for future deep space Saudi CubeSat's mission will help scientists study how space weather affects satellites and astronauts, supporting safer and more efficient future missions to the Moon, Mars, and Watch
