for the first time, two Saudi astronauts, a man and a woman, took off to the International Space Station

It’s a first. A private mission organized by the American company Axiom Space took off on Sunday May 22 for the International Space Station (ISS), with the first two Saudi astronauts on board to go there, a man and a woman.

Rayana Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni were accompanied by two other crew members: Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who has already been to the ISS three times, mission commander, and American entrepreneur John Shoffner, who acts as pilot.

This mission, named Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four astronauts use a SpaceX Dragon capsule to reach the International Space Station, where they are due to arrive around 2:30 p.m. (Paris time) and where they will spend ten days.

The new space trip is part of Saudi Arabia’s strategy to improve the image of the country, where women were not allowed to drive until a few years ago. “Being the first Saudi female astronaut, and representing the region, is a great pleasure and an honor,” said Rayana Barnawi, a scientist by training, during a press conference a few days before departure.