Saudi Arabia will send its first female astronaut on a space mission later this year, the latest step in its efforts to shake off its reputation as a very conservative society, according to the kingdom’s official media.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency, Rayyana Barnawi will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) with Ali Al-Qarni, a fellow Saudi male astronaut, around the second quarter of 2023. According to the agency, the astronauts “will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission,” and the spacecraft will “launch from the USA.”
تعرّف على رائدة الفضاء: ريّانة برناوي
السعودية #نحو_الفضاءMeet the astronaut: Rayyanah Barnawi
Saudi Arabia Towards Space pic.twitter.com/o5qMWYJUwF— الهيئة السعودية للفضاء (@saudispace) February 12, 2023
The oil-rich nation will be following the lead of its neighbor the United Arab Emirates, which in 2019 became the first Arab nation to send one of its nationals into space. Eight days were spent on the ISS at the time by astronaut Hazzaa al-Mansoori. Sultan al-Neyadi, another Emirati, will travel later this month as well. The 41-year-old Neyadi, also known as the “Sultan of Space,” will launch for the ISS atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will become the first Arab astronaut to spend six months in space. The energy-dependent economies of the Gulf monarchies have been the focus of numerous efforts aimed at diversifying them.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has also been working to restructure the country in an effort to shed its reputation for strictness. Women have been given the freedom to drive and go abroad without a male guardian since his ascent to power in 2017, and their share of the workforce has increased from 17 to 37 percent since 2016.
However, Saudi Arabia’s spaceflight is far from the first. Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, an air force pilot who took part in a US-led space mission in 1985, became the first Arab Muslim to journey into space.
As part of Prince Salman’s Vision 2030 plan for economic diversification, Saudi Arabia established a space program in 2018 and launched another one to send astronauts into space last year.
