To date, there have been sixastronauts fromArab nations, also called "najmonauts"^[1][2][3][4] (fromArabic نجم (najm), meaning 'star', andAncient Greek ναύτης (nautes), meaning 'sailor')^[5][6] who have flown to space.^[7][8]

PrinceSultan bin Salman Al Saud ofSaudi Arabia flew in the USSpace Shuttle in 1985.^[9][10][11]Syrian astronautMuhammed Faris made a space flight in 1987, as part of a joint Syrian-Soviet mission.^[12][13][14] In 2019Hazza Al Mansouri of theUnited Arab Emirates flew in theSoyuz MS-15 spacecraft to theInternational Space Station and in 2023Sultan Al Neyadi from the United Arab Emirates flew to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew capsule.^[15][16][17] Al Neyadi was later joined during his mission by Ali Al-Qarni and the first Arab female, Saudi Rayyanah Barnawi, both from Saudi Arabia.^{[18][19][20][21]}

In 1985, the Arab Organization of Space Communications nominatedSultan bin Salman Al Saud. Originally a civilian pilot holding a commercial pilots licence,^[9] Al Saud, a member of theHouse of Saud, was born in Riyadh, to KingSalman of Saudi Arabia, and holds a bachelor's degree of Arts in Media from the University of Denver, Colorado. Al Saud undertook high-level training before his flight, including: how to deploy the Arab satellite at a distance of 320 km above the Earth's surface, as well as how to use a camera from the unit (Hamlad - 500) to take pictures of geological features of the Arabian Peninsula.

In 2023,Ali AlQarni andRayyanah Barnawi became the first Saudi astronauts who traveled to the ISS on theAxiom 2 private mission. Rayyanah was the first female Arab astronaut.^{[22][23][24][25]}

On 25 September 2019,Hazza Al Mansouri became the first Emirati to become an astronaut, travelling in theSoyuz MS-15 spacecraft to theInternational Space Station.^[26]During his short stay aboard the ISS, Al Mansouri conducted 15 experiments created by UAE school students and selected under an MBRSC "Science in space" competition,^[27][28] conducted Earth observation experiments, filmed the first ever tour of the ISS inArabic and became the firstMiddle eastern person to be studied following time in microgravity.^[29]

Sultan Al Neyadi became the second Emirati astronaut who traveled to the ISS on theSpaceX Crew-6 mission.Nora Al Matrooshi andMohammad Al Mulla are other UAE astronauts.

Muhammed Faris was aSyrian astronaut born in Aleppo in 1951.^[12] Faris was the first Syrian astronaut and second Arab into space, flying in the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz M3 (TM-2) to space station Mir on 22 July 1987 with two Soviet cosmonauts in the program for cooperation in space betweenSyria and theSoviet Union. He is credited with carrying the first recorded Earth dirt into space, which was a vial carrying soil from Damascus.^[30]

On 25 September 2019,Jessica Meir whose father is ofSephardic Jewish descent and was born inBaghdad,^[31] travelled in theSoyuz MS-15 spacecraft to theInternational Space Station.^[32]She delivered an empowering video message of support to kids on the Hope Buses in Baghdad.^[33]

Image	Country	Name	Mission (launch date)	Insignia	Description
	Saudi Arabia	Sultan bin Salman Al Saud[34]	STS-51-G (June 17, 1985) on the Space Shuttle Discovery		First Arab, firstSaudi, first member ofroyalty in space.
	Syria	Muhammed Faris[35]	Mir EP-1 (July 22, 1987) to the Russian Mir Space Station		FirstSyrian in space; second Arab in space.
	United Arab Emirates	Hazza Al Mansouri	Soyuz MS-15 (September 25, 2019) to the ISS		FirstEmirati in space andISS; third Arab in space.
	Egypt	Sara Sabry	Blue Origin NS-22 (August 4, 2022)		First Egyptian woman in space; first African woman in space.[36]
	United Arab Emirates	Sultan Al Neyadi	SpaceX Crew-6 (March 2, 2023) to the ISS		SecondEmirati in space; fifth Arab in space; first Arab to completeExtravehicular activity.
	Saudi Arabia	Ali AlQarni	Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023) to the ISS		First maleSaudi to ISS.
	Saudi Arabia	Rayyanah Barnawi	Axiom Mission 2 (May 21, 2023) to the ISS		First female Arab astronaut, firstSaudi woman in space.[37]

• List of Muslim astronauts

• Lists of astronauts
• Lists of Arabs

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