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Rabat – Saudi Arabia is planning to send its first female astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) in the second quarter of 2023, the Saudi Space Commission announced on Sunday.
Rayyanah Barnawi will become the first female astronaut from the country, and will be joined by Ali al-Qarni as crew for the AX-2 space mission, which will launch from the US to the ISS.
Barnawi, 33 years old, is a research laboratory specialist with nine years of experience in cancer stem research, the Saudi Space Commission said.
Astronauts Mariam Fardous and Ali al-Gamdi will also be trained on the mission’s requirements and join the AX-2 team as backup crew.
The mission serves to “empower national capabilities in human spaceflight geared towards serving humanity and benefiting from the promising opportunities offered by the space industry,” said the Saudi Press Agency.
The country will become one of the few that have two astronauts aboard the ISS, the agency added.
The kingdom had launched its astronaut program in September 2022, with initial reports pointing to a partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX space exploration company, though the AX-2 mission will be conducted by Axiom Space instead.
Other gulf states have similarly shown interest in space exploration recently. In December of last year, the UAE launched an explorer craft under the name Rashid Rover on a Japanese spacecraft for a five-month mission.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti engineer Bader Al Moulah has been on his own well-documented journey to become his country’s first astronaut.
