Watch live: Saudi Arabia’s very own astronauts set to make historic arrival to ISS

Saudi Arabia’s very own astronauts – including the first Arab female astronaut – are set to make their historic arrival at the International Space Station (ISS) later on Monday.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule – carrying four astronauts and one furry friend – is scheduled to arrive at the ISS at 9:24 a.m. ET after completing a 17-hour orbital chase.

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A livestream will be made available for viewers to watch the historic moment live.

The hatch is scheduled to open at 11:13 a.m. ET, after which a welcome ceremony for the arriving crew will be held at 11:45 a.m. ET.

The space crew includes two Saudi astronauts, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali al-Qarni.

Ax-2 is go for launch pic.twitter.com/GJZDES7HN4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 21, 2023

The Kingdom’s first space mission is “just the start” for Saudi Arabia’s visionary ambitions into space, a spokesman for the Saudi Space Center said before lift-off on Sunday.

The mission will make Saudi Arabia the first nation not part of the official International Space Station partnership to have two astronauts aboard the ISS at the same time.

During their mission, Barnawi and al-Qarni will join Americans Peggy Whitson, the commander of the trip, and pilot John Shoffner in conducting 20 experiments, including research into predicting and preventing cancer and a study into how to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the Moon and Mars.

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Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali al-Qarni send first greetings from space