Saudi Arabia To Send First Female Astronaut To Space In 2023 - Space Commission

Saudi Arabia to Send First Female Astronaut to Space in 2023 - Space Commission

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2022) Saudi Arabia has launched a space program, aimed at conducting scientific research and personnel training, to send the first Saudi female astronaut to space in 2023, the Saudi Space Commission said on Thursday.

"Saudi Space Commission launched today the Kingdom's first astronaut program, dedicated to train Saudi competent personnel to undertake long- and short-term space flights," the commission said in a statement.

The space program is expected to enable Saudi astronauts to conduct scientific experiments and research "in priority areas such as health, sustainability and space technology," the statement read.

"One of the astronauts will be a Saudi woman, whose mission to space will represent a historical first for the Kingdom," the commission said.

Prince Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud is the first Arab national who traveled to space as part of the STS-51G NASA mission aboard the Discovery spacecraft on June 17, 1985.