UAE names its first astronaut, who will fly to space

The United Arab Emirates has announced the name of its first astronaut, who will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on board Russia’s Soyuz aircraft in September, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has said.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

"The Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori will fly for an eight-day space mission to ISS aboard a Soyuz-MS 15 spacecraft on 25 September 2019," the organization said in a Twitter post late on Friday.

The UAE astronaut’s flight to the ISS is scheduled for September 25. He will spend about a week on board the ISS and will return back to the Earth with the Soyuz crew. Currently, there are two Emirati nationals prepping for the flight in the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. The other astronaut, Sultan Al Neyadi, will serve as a backup.

The agreement of intent by which Russia will eventually provide assistance to the UAE to create its own team of astronauts was concluded at an international astronautic congress in Adelaide, Australia, in September 2017.