Saudi Arabia announced today (Sunday) the dispatch of the first Saudi female and male astronauts to the International Space Station during the second quarter of the year 2023 AD, where the Saudi female and male astronauts (Rayana Bernawi and Ali Al-Qarni) will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission with the aim of building national capacities. In the field of manned flights for humanity, taking advantage of the promising opportunities offered by the space sector and its industries globally, and contributing to scientific research that is in the interest of serving humanity in a number of priority areas such as health, sustainability and space technology, explaining that the scientific journey will start from the United States of America to The International Space Station, noting that the program includes training a female astronaut and two other astronauts on all mission requirements, namely (Maryam Firdous and Ali Al-Ghamdi).
Abdullah bin Amer Al-Sawaha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission, explained that Saudi Arabia, in light of the unlimited support of the leadership, seeks through the astronaut program to activate scientific innovations at the level of space science, and to enhance its ability to conduct its own research independently, which will reflect positively on The future of industry and the homeland, and increasing the interest of graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and developing human capital, by attracting talent and developing the necessary skills, indicating that Saudi Arabia is counting on the astronaut program to strengthen its position in the global race towards space and its exploration, and raise its position in the map Countries that are racing to space and investing in its specialized sciences.
For his part, the CEO of the Saudi Space Authority, Dr. Muhammad bin Saud Al-Tamimi, stated that the support and empowerment that the authority found from leadership is the main driver behind the broad steps and qualitative leaps of Saudi Arabia in the field of space, by overcoming all the difficulties and obstacles facing the sector, stressing that space flights The manned flight is a measure of the superiority of countries and their global competitiveness in many fields such as technical and engineering progress, scientific research and innovation. This flight is also historic, as it will make Saudi Arabia one of the few countries in the world that brings two astronauts of the same nationality aboard the International Space Station at the same time.
The astronaut program comes in cooperation with a group of entities, led by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Sports, the Civil Aviation Authority, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, in addition to the Axiom Space company, which specializes in manned space flights and the development of space infrastructure in the United States of America.
It is noteworthy that the Saudi Space Authority launched the Saudi Astronaut Program earlier, and this trip comes as part of an integrated package with the aim of qualifying experienced Saudi cadres to go into space flights and participate in scientific experiments, international research and future space-related missions, and contribute to raising the status of Saudi Arabia and contributing to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s vision. 2030 AD.
Okaz (Riyadh)
