Who Is the First Arab Astronaut?

Prince Sultan Bin Salman is the first Saudi astronaut and the first Muslim Arab astronaut. He is the second son of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He was assigned the role of "Payload Specialist for the Space Shuttle Discovery" as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team on the Discovery Shuttle mission (STS-51G) in 1985. During the mission, he represented the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) in the launch of the second Arab satellite, "Arabsat-1B."

He held several positions, including chairman of the Saudi Space Agency with the rank of minister upon its establishment on December 27, 2018. Before that, he served as the president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (now the Ministry of Tourism). On May 3, 2021, a Royal Order appointed him as an advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.