UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi chosen for 6-month ISS mission

Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has been selected for a mission to spend six months at the International Space Station (ISS), the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Monday.

Sultan Al Neyadi will be part of a NASA mission that will take off in the spring of 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted on Monday, “I am proud to congratulate Sultan Al Neyadi on being selected as the 1st Arab astronaut to spend 6 months on the International Space Station as part of a mission to commence in 2023. This historic milestone builds on the strong foundations of the UAE’s burgeoning space programme.”

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tweeted, “Our young people have made us feel so proud.”

Al Neyadi, who was selected from more than 4,000 candidates to become one of the country’s first astronauts in 2018, will begin his mission in 2023.

Sultan Al Neyadi is one of the first astronauts from the United Arab Emirates. He acted as supporter for Hazza Al Mansouri on the country’s first mission to the International Space Station in September 2019. Al Neyadi and Al Mansouri were selected from 4,022 candidates to become the first Emirati astronauts after a series of tests.

Al Neyadi previously worked in the UAE Army as a Network Security Engineer. He holds a PhD in Information Technology from Griffith University in Australia, and a Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Brighton, UK.

In recent years, the United Arab Emirates has taken the lead in its space ambitions, training several astronauts and developing the Hope probe, which is currently researching the atmosphere of Mars.