Two Saudi astronauts, including the first Saudi woman, will launch from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 8, according to Axiom Space and Nasa authorities.
Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will be the first Saudi woman to travel into space, and she will be joined on the journey by fighter pilot Ali Al Qarni.
Peggy Whitson, a former Nasa astronaut who will be making her fourth voyage to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a Tennessee businessman who will act as pilot, will both be on board.
Lift-off of Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 10.43pm Eastern Time on May 8 (0243 GMT on May 9) from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Axiom Space and Nasa officials said in a briefing to preview the flight.
The four-member crew will travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and spend 10 days aboard the orbiting space station. The mission to the ISS will be the second by Axiom Space, a private space company.
Axiom Space carried out its first private astronaut mission to the ISS in April 2022. Four astronauts spent 17 days in orbit as part of Ax-1.
While 263 people from 20 countries have visited the ISS, the kingdom will become the sixth nation to have two national astronauts simultaneously working aboard the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Space said.
The upcoming space mission comes nearly 40 years after Saudi Arabia sent the first Arab – Prince Sultan bin Salman – to space in 1985.
The neighbouring UAE has also taken part in space missions and an Emirati astronaut, Sultan Al Neyadi, arrived on the ISS a month ago for a six-month stay.
In the official release shared by Saudi Arabia previously announcing the two Saudi astronauts on the Ax-2 mission, it stated: “This flight is an integral milestone of a comprehensive programme aiming to train and qualify experienced Saudis to undertake human spaceflight, conduct scientific experiments, participate in international research, and future space-related missions.
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