Saudi Arabia will send two astronauts, including a woman, to the International Space Station for the first time in its history during the second quarter of 2023, the oil-rich Gulf state following in the footsteps of its Emirati neighbor.
The world’s largest oil exporter, the ultra-conservative kingdom seeks to diversify its economy and improve its image through various projects and announcements, particularly in a context of recurring criticism of serious human rights violations.
“Saudi Arabia will send its first male and female Saudi astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the second quarter of 2023,” the official SPA news agency said on Sunday.
A stay of 10 days
Rayana Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni will lift off aboard a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States, “in the spring of 2023,” NASA later confirmed in a press release.
They will be accompanied by two other crew members. Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has been to the ISS three times, will command the mission. American businessman John Shoffner will act as the pilot. They will spend about 10 days aboard the station, NASA said.
This mission, called Ax-2, is the second of a partnership between the US space agency (which opens the doors to the ISS) and the US company Axiom Space, in charge of chartering the means of transport. The crew is “strong and united, determined to conduct significant scientific research in space,” Peggy Whitson was quoted as saying in a company statement.
A first mission, Ax-1, took three businessmen and a former astronaut to spend two weeks on the international space station in April 2022.
Next space flight for an Emirati
The announcement comes as Emirati Sultan al-Neyadi will become the first astronaut from an Arab country to spend six months in space when he flies to the ISS on February 26 aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
The United Arab Emirates, a wealthy neighboring country and an ally of the Saudis, has embarked on the space race in recent years, sending another of its nationals, Hazzaa al-Mansoori, into space in 2019 for an eight-day mission in the ‘ISS.
In 1985, Saudi Arabia sent the first Arab and Muslim astronaut in history to participate in a space flight launched, also there, from the United States. Saudi Arabia created the Saudi Space Authority in 2018 and last year launched a program to send astronauts.
These projects were established as part of the “Vision 2030” plan of the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler and son of the elderly and ailing King Salman. Prince Mohammed has launched sweeping economic and social reforms, including the right for women to drive, but remains regularly accused of repressing civil society, from political opponents to feminist activists.
Source: BFM TV
