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Saudi Arabia Participates in the 10th World Water Forum

Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley - SPA
Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Participates in the 10th World Water Forum

Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley - SPA
Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley - SPA

Saudi Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley said that the world faces significant challenges endangering water sustainability, particularly the excessive use of water due to economic growth and climate change, which contribute to the threat to water resources.

His statement came during the 10th World Water Forum, as he chaired the Saudi delegation's participation in the forum on behalf of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Indonesia from May 18 to 25.
In his speech, he also also emphasized the need for international cooperation to ensure the safety of water resources.
Minister Al-Fadley highlighted that the Kingdom has prioritized water issues on the international agenda.

As a G20 member, the Kingdom continuously supports water issues. For instance, the Kingdom has launched the G20 Water Platform to promote international cooperation and encourage the exchange of expertise in the water sector.

Additionally, the Kingdom initiated the Global Water Organization, which aims to unite international efforts to address challenges threatening water security, SPA reported.
He also noted that the Kingdom is dedicated to participating in meetings and activities related to water issues and hosting forums on water security and sustainability. He mentioned that the Kingdom plans to host the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) next December, and the 11th World Water Forum in Riyadh in 2027, under the theme "Working for a Better Tomorrow," in alignment with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 for addressing water issues.

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Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
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Japan Startup Hopeful Ahead of Second Moon Launch

Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)
Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi soars through the air during the trial round of the Four Hills FIS Ski Jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee), in Innsbruck, Austria on January 4, 2025. (Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH / APA / AFP)

Japanese startup ispace vowed its upcoming second unmanned Moon mission will be a success, saying Thursday that it learned from its failed attempt nearly two years ago.

In April 2023, the firm's first spacecraft made an unsalvageable "hard landing", dashing its ambitions to be the first private company to touch down on the Moon.

The Houston-based Intuitive Machines accomplished that feat last year with an uncrewed craft that landed at the wrong angle but was able to complete tests and send photos.

With another mission scheduled to launch next week, ispace wants to win its place in space history at a booming time for missions to the Moon from both governments and private companies.

"We at ispace were disappointed in the failure of Mission 1," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada told reporters.

"But that's why we hope to send a message to people across Japan that it's important to challenge ourselves again, after enduring the failure and learning from it."

"We will make this Mission 2 a success," AFP quoted him as saying.

Its new lander, called Resilience, will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, along with another lunar lander built by US company Firefly Aerospace.

If Resilience lands successfully, it will deploy a micro rover and five other payloads from corporate partners.

These include an experiment by Takasago Thermal Engineering, which wants to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas with a view to using hydrogen as satellite and spacecraft fuel.

- Rideshare -

Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will arrive at the Moon after travelling 45 days, followed by ispace's Resilience, which the Japanese company hopes will land on the Earth's satellite at the end of May, or in June.

For the program, officially named Hakuto-R Mission 2, ispace chose to cut down on costs by arranging the first private-sector rocket rideshare, Hakamada said.

Only five nations have soft-landed spacecraft on the Moon: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India and, most recently, Japan.

Many companies are vying to offer cheaper and more frequent space exploration opportunities than governments.

Space One, another Japanese startup, is trying to become Japan's first company to put a satellite into orbit -- with some difficulty so far.

Last month, Space One's solid-fuel Kairos rocket blasted off from a private launchpad in western Japan but was later seen spiraling downwards in the distance.

That was the second launch attempt by Space One after an initial try in March last year ended in a mid-air explosion.

Meanwhile Toyota, the world's top-selling carmaker, announced this week it would invest seven billion yen ($44 million) in Japanese rocket startup Interstellar Technologies.

"The global demand for small satellite launches has surged nearly 20-fold, from 141 launches in 2016 to 2,860 in 2023," driven by private space businesses, national security concerns and technological development, Interstellar said.