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KAUST Ranked 1st in Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2023

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
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KAUST Ranked 1st in Times Higher Education Arab University Rankings 2023

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) logo

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) ranked first in the Times Higher Education (THE) Arab University Rankings 2023, a move up from KAUST's ranking as second in the previous year.

"KAUST also scored a perfect 100 for research environment, one of only two universities to do so, in the society pillar (measuring industry income, as well as participation and performance in the impact rankings) and the international outlook pillar (measuring the share of international students, staff and co-authorship, as well as research collaboration within the Arab world),” the university said in a statement on Thursday.

"This is a testament to the world-class research environment we have cultivated here at KAUST. Our new strategy is already delivering, with new key deepening strategic partnerships across China, the US, Europe and locally in Saudi Arabia with the giga-projects,” said KAUST President Tony Chan.

Furthermore, the Top500 Committee has ranked the KAUST supercomputer 'Shaheen III' the most powerful in the Middle East and 20th in the world. Chan believes it will take KAUST further up the global rankings.

"We are super powering our research across all disciplines, which is going to significantly address key global and local issues, such as climate and sustainability, renewable energy, AI and future economy and smart health."

Saudi Arabian and UAE universities dominate the top 10 in the Arab University Rankings 2023. The ascension of KAUST and other Saudi universities in the Rankings reflects the Kingdom's unwavering focus and investment in research, development and innovation, the statement said.

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Intuitive Machines' Athena Lander Closing in on Lunar Touchdown Site

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
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Intuitive Machines' Athena Lander Closing in on Lunar Touchdown Site

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex-39A carrying the Nova-C lunar lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload initiative from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 26, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo

Intuitive Machines sent final commands to its uncrewed Athena spacecraft on Thursday as it closed in on a landing spot near the moon's south pole, the company's second attempt to score a clean touchdown after making a lopsided landing last year.

After launching atop a SpaceX rocket on Feb. 26 from Florida, the six-legged Athena lander has flown a winding path to the moon some 238,000 miles (383,000 km) away from Earth, where it will attempt to land closer to the lunar south pole than any other spacecraft.

The landing is scheduled for 12:32 pm ET (1732 GMT). It will target Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain some 100 miles (160 km) from the lunar south pole, Reuters reported.

Five nations have made successful soft landings in the past - the then-Soviet Union, the US, China, India and, last year, Japan. The US and China are both rushing to put their astronauts on the moon later this decade, each courting allies and giving their private sectors a key role in spacecraft development.

India's first uncrewed moon landing, Chandrayaan-3 in 2023, touched down near the lunar south pole. The region is eyed by major space powers for its potential for resource extraction once humans return to the surface - subsurface water ice could theoretically be converted into rocket fuel.

The Houston-based company's first moon landing attempt almost exactly a year ago, using its Odysseus lander, marked the most successful touchdown attempt at the time by a private company.

But its hard touchdown - due to a faulty laser altimeter used to judge its distance from the ground - broke a lander leg and caused the craft to topple over, dooming many of its onboard experiments.

Austin-based Firefly Aerospace this month celebrated a clean touchdown of its Blue Ghost lander, making the most successful soft landing by a private company to date.

Intuitive Machines, Firefly, Astrobotic Technology and a handful of other companies are building lunar spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, an effort to seed development of low-budget spacecraft that can scour the moon's surface before the US sends astronauts there around 2027.