SpaceX launching Saudi astronauts on private flight to International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, stands ready for launch to the International Space Station on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo / AP

SpaceX’s next private flight to the International Space Station awaited takeoff Sunday, weather and rocket permitting.

The passengers include Saudi Arabia’s first astronauts in decades, as well as a Tennessee businessman who started his own sports car racing team. They’ll be led by a retired Nasa astronaut who now works for the company that arranged the 10-day trip.

It’s the second charter flight organised by Houston-based Axiom Space. The company would not say how much the latest tickets cost; it previously cited per-seat prices of $55 million.

This photo provided by Axiom Space in 2023 shows astronauts, from left, Ali al-Qarni, Rayyanah Barnawi, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner. Photo / AP

With its Falcon rocket already on the pad, SpaceX targeted a liftoff late Sunday afternoon from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center. It’s the same spot where Saudi Arabia’s first astronaut, a prince, soared in 1985.

Representing the Saudi Arabian government this time are Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher set to become the kingdom’s first woman in space, and Royal Saudi Air Force fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni.

Rounding out the crew: John Shoffner, the racecar buff; and Peggy Whitson, who holds the US record for most accumulated time in space at 665 days.