Saudi Arabia To Send Its First Female Astronaut On Space Mission

Saudi Arabia is preparing to send its first female astronaut to space this year.

What Happened: The official Saudi Press Agency on Sunday announced that Rayyanah Barnawi will be joining fellow male astronaut Ali Al-Qarni on a mission to the International Space Station, or ISS, “during the second quarter of 2023.”

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The agency said the astronauts “will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission” and the space flight will “launch from the USA.”

Saudi Arabia will follow in the footsteps of neighboring United Arab Emirates — which, in 2019, became the first Arab nation to send one of its citizens into space.

Why It Matters: While Barnawi’s trip to the ISS marks a greater milestone for Saudi women, the "male guardian" laws continue to haunt the female population in the country. 

Although the government overturned some of its male guardianship laws in March 2022, it passed a new Personal Status Law that retained some aspects of guardianship. 

A law that required women to obtain the permission of a male relative to obtain a passport or travel overseas was abandoned. However, the new law still requires a male guardian to consent to a woman's marriage.

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