A private mission organized by the company Axiom Space took off Sunday to the International Space Station (ISS), with on board the first two Saudis to go to this flying laboratory, including a woman.
Rayana Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 17:37 p.m. local time (23:37 p.m. in France) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They are accompanied by two other crew members. Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has already visited the ISS three times, commands the mission. American entrepreneur John Shoffner serves as pilot. They will spend about 10 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where they are due to arrive around 13:30 GMT (15:30 French time) on Monday.
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Improving Saudi Arabia's image
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Being the first Saudi woman astronaut, and representing the region, is a great pleasure and honor that I am very happy to have," Rayana Barnawi, a scientist by training, told a news conference this week. She said she looks forward to talking to children from the ISS: "Being able to see their faces when they see astronauts from their own region for the first time is very exciting," she said.
In everyday life, Ali Al-Qarni is a fighter pilot. "I've always had a passion for exploring the unknown, and admiring the sky and the stars," he explained. "So it's a wonderful opportunity for me to pursue that passion, and this time to fly among the stars.
»The oil-rich state has sent one of its nationals into space in the past. In 1985, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman participated in an American mission. But this new space trip is part of the ultra-conservative kingdom's strategy to improve the image of the country, where women were still not allowed to drive only a few years ago. Saudi Arabia established the Saudi Space Authority in 2018 and last year launched a program to send astronauts into space.
