According to Axiom Space and NASA, a private flight to the ISS with Saudi astronauts is planned for May 8

 April 08 2023

United States of America, Washington: According to Axiom Space and NASA officials, two Saudi astronauts, including the first Saudi woman, will launch from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on May 8.

Rayyan Ah Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, will be the first Saudi woman to travel into space, accompanied by fighter pilot Ali Al-Qarni.

Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut returning to the ISS for the fourth time, and John Shoffner, a Tennessee businessman serving as pilot, will both be aboard.

The launch of Axiom Mission 2 (Axe-2) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral is scheduled for 10:43 p.m. Eastern Time on May 8 (0243 p.m. GMT on May 9) from the Kennedy Space Center.

The four-person crew will travel to the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon capsule and stay for ten days on the orbiting space station.

The mission to the International Space Station will be Axiom Space's second.

In April 2022, Axiom Space launched its first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. As part of Axe-1, four astronauts spent 17 days in orbit.

The space mission involving a Saudi woman is the kingdom's latest attempt to improve its ultra-conservative image.

However, this is not the kingdom's first foray into space.

In 1985, Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an air force pilot, participated in a space voyage organised by the United States.

The United Arab Emirates has also participated in space missions, and an Emirati astronaut, Sultan al-Neyadi, arrived on the International Space Station a month ago for a six-month stay.

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