Saudi engineers and researchers have completed work on a payload for a Chinese space vehicle that will explore the moon, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The satellite is equipped with a payload for a space sensory system developed by Saudi engineers and researchers for filming and taking photos of the Moon.
The cooperation between Riyadh and Beijing follows a memorandum of understanding concluded between the two countries during the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to China last year, that laid the foundation for cooperation with the Chinese Space Agency to explore the moon.
The payload was reportedly readied in a record time of no more than 12 months during which the Saudi research team faced numerous challenges, the release stated, most prominent of which was the importance of manufacturing a compact payload with a high capacity of less than 10.5 cu.cm and a weight of no more than 630 grams on the Chinese satellite.
The joint venture between Saudi Arabia and China aims at studying and exploring the moon, particularly the invisible side to provide scientific data for researchers.
Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s participation would boost its efforts to develop its satellite technologies and use it in several fields of reconnaissance and distance censoring as well as space telecommunications.
He said the payload consists photographic units, data processing, the mediator between the satellite systems and the payload system which was characterised by lightness in weight and ability to endure space environment and taking photos from different angles and altitudes with accuracy.
He said a specialised task team of Saudi engineers and researchers contributed to the designing and manufacturing the lunar filming payload system at the city’s labs.
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