New SpaceX flight just made history thanks to its passengers

2023-05-23 00:26

SpaceX's second private flight just made history by sending Saudi Arabia's first female astronaut towards the International Space Station. The SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre on Sunday night, and the astronaut and the other three passengers are expected to reach the space station in their capsule on Monday, where they will hang out for just over a week. Saudi Arabia's first astronauts in decades are stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi, and Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot Ali al Qarni. "This is a dream come true for everyone," Barnawi said before the flight. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "Just being able to understand that this is possible - if me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too." The journey was organised by Houston-based Axiom Space and the crew was led by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who holds the US record for the most accumulated time in space - 665 days and counting. The company would not reveal how much the latest tickets cost, but previously cited per-seat prices of $55m (£44m). Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

SpaceX's second private flight just made history by sending Saudi Arabia's first female astronaut towards the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Falcon rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre on Sunday night, and the astronaut and the other three passengers are expected to reach the space station in their capsule on Monday, where they will hang out for just over a week.

Saudi Arabia's first astronauts in decades are stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi, and Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot Ali al Qarni.

"This is a dream come true for everyone," Barnawi said before the flight.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

"Just being able to understand that this is possible - if me and Ali can do it, then they can do it, too."

The journey was organised by Houston-based Axiom Space and the crew was led by Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who holds the US record for the most accumulated time in space - 665 days and counting.

The company would not reveal how much the latest tickets cost, but previously cited per-seat prices of $55m (£44m).

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.