Saudi Arabia launches a satellite with the help of the U.S. manned lunar mission

Saudi Arabia’s Space Agency announced on the 4th that the “Shams” satellite, developed independently by Saudi Arabia, was successfully launched as part of the crewed mission to fly around the Moon with the U.S. “Artemis 2” and established initial communications. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the satellite will operate in an elliptical orbit ranging from about 500 kilometers to 70k kilometers above the Earth, and can be used to monitor solar activity and changes in radiation, providing support for space weather research and related applications. This is also Saudi Arabia’s first national-level mission dedicated specifically to space weather monitoring. According to the announcement, this mission will focus on four main scientific areas: space radiation, solar X-rays, Earth’s magnetic field, and high-energy solar particles. Relevant data will help improve the reliability and sustainability of key areas such as communications, aviation, and navigation. NASA implemented the crewed mission to fly around the Moon with “Artemis 2” on the 1st. The mission is the first crewed mission under the U.S. “Artemis” lunar program, and is the first time the United States has sent a crewed mission to the Moon since the end of the 1972 Apollo 17 lunar mission. (Xinhua News Agency)