By Marcia Dunn - The Associated Press
Saudi Arabia's first astronauts in decades departed for the International Space Station on a multimillion-dollar private flight Sunday afternoon from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It's the same place where Saudi Arabia's first astronaut, a prince, rose in 1985.
SpaceX launched the crew headed by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for the company that organized the trip. Also on board is an American businessman who owns a sports car racing team.
All four are scheduled to arrive at the space station in their capsule Monday morning; They will spend just over a week there before returning home with a splashdown off the coast of Florida.
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon capsule and a crew of four astronauts, lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, May 21, 2023.
With the sponsorship of the Saudi government, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, became the first woman in the kingdom to travel into space. He is accompanied by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot in the Royal Saudi Air Force.
They are the first from their country to travel on a space rocket since a Saudi prince departed aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1985. Interestingly, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates will receive them at the station.
"This is a dream come true for everyone," Barnawi said before the flight. "Just being able to understand that this is possible. If Ali and I can do it, they can do it too."
Rounding out the team: John Shoffner, the former race car driver and current owner of a team that competes in Europe, and Peggy Whitson, the station's first female commander and who holds the U.S. record for most cumulative time in space at 665 days and counting.
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"It's a phenomenal journey," Whitson said after reaching orbit. His crewmates clapped their hands with joy.
This is the second charter flight organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year for three entrepreneurs, with another astronaut retired from NASA. The company plans to start adding its own rooms to the station in the coming years, eventually removing them to form a separate outpost available for rent.
Axiom will not disclose how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the 10-day mission. The company had previously quoted a ticket price of $55 million each.
