Axiom Space to ferry Saudi astronauts
Houston-based Axiom Space will send Saudi Arabia’s first female astronaut into space.
Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that female astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi and male astronaut Ali AlQarni would be part of Axiom’s four-person crew traveling to the International Space Station.
Their trip, scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this spring, will be the second private mission organized by Axiom Space. The first mission launched in April 2022.
“Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station cements our mission of expanding access to space worldwide,” Michael Suffredini, president and CEO of Axiom Space, said in a news release.
Axiom previously announced that former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who is now Axiom’s director of human spaceflight, would lead the Ax-2 mission. Aviator John Shoffner, a champion racer who formed a GT3 motorsports endurance racing team with his wife Janine, would be the spacecraft’s pilot.
Barnawi, 33, and AlQarni, 31, will be the first two Saudi astronauts to visit the International Space Station. The first Saudi to go to space, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, flew aboard the shuttle in 1985.
Barnawi has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Otago in New Zealand and a master’s in biomedical sciences from Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia. She has nine years of experience in cancer stem cell research, according to the Saudi Space Commission’s Twitter.
AlQarni is a pilot with 2,387 hours of flying and 12 years of experience in fighter aircraft, according to Twitter. He earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical sciences from King Faisal Air Academy in Saudi Arabia and is a captain in the country’s Air Force.
This mission is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to train astronauts and participate in human spaceflight. And it’s an important revenue stream for Axiom Space.
Axiom, founded in 2016, is sending private astronauts to the International Space Station to make money and to gain experience operating in microgravity. The company’s bigger project is to build its own commercial space station, with the first segment scheduled to launch in late 2025.
Axiom contracted the crew’s ride into space, planned their mission and has overseen months of training. When the Ax-2 crew is in space, Axiom will be in charge of their timeline and will help them conduct research. NASA, however, has ultimate authority over anything on and immediately around the space station.
“Enabling more people to go to space is an important component of NASA’s continuing efforts to grow the low-Earth orbit economy,” Angela Hart, manager of NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program, said in a statement. “Private astronaut missions are a key component to enable a successful transition to a model of commercially owned and operated platforms in low-Earth orbit.”
John Logsdon, founder of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, said governments like Saudi Arabia will be the primary customers for Axiom’s business plan.
“I don’t find anything particularly meaningful that the two space passengers are Saudi, other than clearly Saudi Arabia has the wealth to pay their fare,” Logsdon said. “What is significant is opening access to orbit to individuals, whether selected by governments or privately funded, from other than space-faring countries.”