Feb 4 (Reuters) - Thales Alenia Space (TAS) has clinched

an order from the UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre to

develop an airlock module for the Lunar Gateway space station,

the joint venture between France's Thales and Italy's

Leonardo said.

"The Airlock will allow astronauts to perform spacewalks,

transfer research to and from the lunar station, and serve as an

additional docking port for spacecraft vehicles," TAS said in a

press release on Tuesday.

The order, for an undisclosed amount, is the latest in a

series of contracts awarded to TAS in recent weeks, including

two from the European Space Agency for the design of the

Venus-bound Envision spacecraft and the Argonaut lunar lander.

The Lunar Gateway is to become the first international space

station around the moon as part of the Artemis programme. It is

a multinational project involving NASA, the European Space

Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the

Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space

Centre (MBRSC).

($1 = 0.9633 euros)

(Reporting by Alban Kacher; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)