Saudi Arabia To Send 2 Astronauts to International Space Station on SpaceX

Saudi Arabia is planning to send two astronauts to the International Space Station that is orbiting Earth. The country has purchased two seats aboard Elon Musk’s private SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Reuters has reported, citing three unnamed people it says are familiar with the arrangement made through Houston’s Axiom Space, which arranges private missions to space. Under the deal struck earlier this year, the Saudi astronauts will take SpaceX to the ISS alongside two private American astronauts for a weeklong stay earlier next year on a mission dubbed called Ax-2. Axiom on Monday announced a deal with Turkey to launch the country’s first two astronauts into space in late 2023. While no financials have been disclosed for the Saudi or Turkish astronauts, each Crew Dragon seat on Axiom’s first mission sold for $55 million.