SpaceX mission lifts off with former NASA astronaut, three paying customers | CNN

A SpaceX rocket successfully takes off with paying passengers for a weeklong stay aboard the International Space Station.

Their journey, put together by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, marks the second all-private mission to the orbiting outpost. Called AX-2, the mission is making history as stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi becomes the first woman from Saudi Arabia to travel to space. The crew boarded the SpaceX rocket Sunday afternoon as weather officials kept a close eye on thunderstorms.

“That’s been one of the biggest challenges for me is learning this particular spacecraft,” she said. “But I’ve really enjoyed it.” Barnawi and AlQarni are only the second and third Saudis to travel to space. The first was Prince Sultan bin Salman, who spent about a week on a NASA space shuttle mission in 1985. Saudi Arabia has faced a barrage of criticism from the Biden administration and Congress over its human rights record, though the ties between the US and Saudi Arabia remain strong.

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