May 8 launch for private mission to ISS with Saudi astronauts

Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, members of the inaugural Saudi national astronaut program, will be part of a four-person Axiom-2 mission crew to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. (Supplied: Axiom)
Ali Al-Qarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, members of the inaugural Saudi national astronaut program, will be part of a four-person Axiom-2 mission crew to blast off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. (Supplied: Axiom)
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Updated 21 May 2023
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May 8 launch for private mission to ISS with Saudi astronauts

May 8 launch for private mission to ISS with Saudi astronauts
  • Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, becomes first Saudi woman to voyage into space
  • Will be joined on the mission by fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot

RIYADH: A space mission carrying two astronauts from Saudi Arabia, including the first Saudi and Arab woman in space, will launch from Florida on May 8.

The astronauts will be traveling on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the Saudi Space Commission, NASA, SpaceX and Axiom Space said during a virtual press conference.

Rayyanah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will become the first Saudi woman to voyage into space and will be joined on the mission by fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot.

Liftoff of the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for 10:43 p.m. ET on May 8 (05:43 a.m. KSA) from the Kennedy Space Center 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.

In 1985, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an air force pilot, took part in a US-organized space voyage, becoming the first Saudi in space.

The 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.

* With AFP