Saudi Arabia to send its first woman into space
Saudi Arabia will send its first ever woman astronaut on a space mission later this year, the latest move by the kingdom to revamp its ultra-conservative image.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Rayyana Barnawi and fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni will embark on a 10-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
According to SPA and Axiom, Barnawi and Al-Qarni will embark on a mission to the International Space Station this spring aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who will be making her fourth flight to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a Tennessee businessman who will be the pilot, will also be on board Ax-2.
From Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the Ax-2 crew to the International Space Station.
The neighboring United Arab Emirates, which in 2019 became the first Arab nation to send a citizen into space, will follow in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich footsteps.
Hazzaa al-Mansoori, an astronaut, spent eight days on the ISS. Sultan al-Neyadi, a fellow Emirati, will also travel to the space station later this month.
Neyadi, 41, is known as the “Sultan of Space.” When he launches on a Falcon 9 rocket for the International Space Station (ISS), he will become the first Arab astronaut to spend six months in space.
Numerous initiatives have been undertaken by Gulf monarchies in an effort to diversify their energy-reliant economies.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, has also been pushing for changes to get rid of the kingdom’s strict image.
Women’s participation in the workforce has more than doubled from 17% in 2016 to 37% since his rise to power in 2017. Since his rise to power in 2017, women have been permitted to drive and travel abroad without the supervision of a male guardian.
However, this is not the first space venture undertaken by Saudi Arabia.
The first Arab Muslim to travel into space was Saudi royal Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an air force pilot who took part in a US-organized space mission in 1985.
As part of Prince Salman’s Vision 2030 agenda for economic diversification, Saudi Arabia established a space program in 2018 and launched another the following year to send astronauts into space.
In April 2022, Axiom Space flew its first private astronaut to the ISS. As part of Ax-1, four private astronauts spent 17 days in orbit.
