On Monday, two Saudi visitors arrived at the International Space Station, including the nation’s first female astronaut.
Less than 16 hours after taking off from Florida, SpaceX’s contracted flight reached the orbiting lab. Before travelling back to Earth in their capsule, the four visitors will stay there for slightly over a week.
11 people now occupy the space station, including representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, at a height of 270 miles (430 kilometres).
The Saudi government is footing a multimillion-dollar bill for its first female astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher and fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni.
A businessman from Knoxville, Tennessee, John Shoffner, who founded a racing team, is covering his own expenses. Their guide is retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and she currently works for Houston-based Axiom Space, which planned the 10-day journey, its second to the space station.
The corporation refused to disclose the price of the most recent seats, citing ticket prices of $55 million each for a private trip taken by three businessmen last year.
Only one other Saudi, a royal who travelled aboard NASA’s shuttle Discovery in 1985, has previously gone into space.
