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- First-ever Saudi astronauts to launch for International Space Station
First-ever Saudi astronauts to launch for International Space Station
'This flight is an integral milestone of a comprehensive program aiming to train and qualify experienced Saudis to undertake human spaceflight'
History will be made in a matter of months when Saudi Arabia sends its first-ever astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) – including the first Arab woman in space, in the latest move to revamp Riyadh’s ultra-conservative image.
Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali al-Qarni of the inaugural Saudi national astronaut program will blast off in May from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of the Axiom-2 mission, along with two other astronauts. It will mark nearly 40 years after the Saudi kingdom sent the first Arab – Prince Sultan bin Salman – to space in 1985.
Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, nicknamed the “Sultan of Space,” will also be a part of the mission, and will eventually have spent six months in space. The voyage will mark another pivotal step toward the Axion Station, the world’s first commercial space station and successor to the ISS.
The mission represents a return to human space exploration for Saudi Arabia and will make the kingdom the first nation not a part of the official ISS partnership to have astronauts aboard the station at the same time. While 263 people from 20 countries have visited the ISS, Saudi Arabia will become only the sixth nation to have two national astronauts simultaneously working aboard the orbiting laboratory.
“This flight is an integral milestone of a comprehensive program aiming to train and qualify experienced Saudis to undertake human spaceflight, conduct scientific experiments, participate in international research, and future space-related missions contributing to the kingdom’s Vision 2030,” the Saudi government said in a statement.