Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Arab female astronaut, is also on the mission.
Two Saudi astronauts will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time on a private mission to carry out a number of experiments, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Arab female astronaut and breast cancer researcher, and fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni are set to blast off on Sunday in a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, in the US state of Florida.
Arrived at the ISS on Monday, the duo will join Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, and American pilot John Shoffner, for a mission organized by the private space company Axiom Space.
“Being the first female astronaut from Saudi Arabia, representing the region, is a great pleasure and an honor that I am very happy to bear,” Barnawi told reporters at a recent press conference.
For al-Qarni, the mission is also a long-lived passion.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to pursue this kind of passion that I have, and now…to fly among the stars,” he said.
According to SPA, the team will perform 14 experiments focusing on “human research, cell science, and cloud seeding experiments in the microgravity environment.”
Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the mission is also aimed at expanding space science education in the kingdom. Saudi students will take part in scientific experiments on the ISS, according to the SPA.
Barnawi said she was looking forward to sharing her experience with Saudi youth.
“Being able to see their faces when they see astronauts from their own region for the first time is very exciting,” she said.
The mission is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a reform program which hopes to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and create jobs for young Saudis.
In 2018, Saudi Arabia established the Saudi Space Commission and launched a program last year to send astronauts into space.
The Kingdom’s history in space dates back to 1985, when Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, an Air Force pilot, took part in a space trip organized by the United States.
The region has been innovating in the sector for several years.
In 2019, Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates became the first Arab to reach the ISS. Last month, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi became the first Arab to undertake a spacewalk.
The ISS – a rare example of cooperation between Russia and the West – has orbited the Earth at around 28,000 km (17,400 miles) per hour since 1998.