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Sultan bin Salman Al Saud

Saudi - (KACST-SRI)

Retired

Date of Birth: June 27, 1956
Age: 68


Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (born 27 June 1956) is a former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle mission as a payload specialist, and a member of the House of Saud. He is thus the first member of a royal family to be an astronaut, and the first Arab and Muslim to fly in space.

Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-51-G

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
June 17, 1985, 11:33 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-51-G was the eighteenth flight of the shuttle program and fifth for Space Shuttle Discovery. Sultan Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was on board as a payload specialist; he became the first Arab, the first Muslim and first member of a royal family to fly into space. It was the first shuttle flight to fly without an astronaut from the pre-Shuttle era. Its mission was to deploy 3 10 satellites.

Low Earth Orbit
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Chairman: Sultan bin Salman Al Saud

The Space Research Institute of Saudi Arabia is committed to space research for Suadi Arabia. Their space agency is chaired by Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, the first and only Saudi man to go to space aboard the STS-51-G for 7 days.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 3 hours ago
Bandwagon 3 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 19 hours ago
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-32
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commer…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 15 hours ago
NROL-145
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Tenth batch of satellites for a reconnaissance satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for the National Reconnaissance Office to…


Long March 6A
Success
5 days, 5 hours ago
Shiyan 27 01-06
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

A group of 6 Chinese satellites reported to be for "space environment probing and other related technological testing". Actual usage not known.


Minotaur IV
Success
1 week ago
NROL-174
Space Launch Complex 8 - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.