Saudi Arabia plans to send female astronauts into space by 2023

With the aim of sending the nation's first female astronaut to space in 2023, Saudi Arabia on Thursday officially began its astronaut programme, according to the state news agency SPA.

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The initiative is being heralded as part of Saudi Arabia's ambitious "Vision 2030" plan to reform the country's economy and lessen its reliance on oil, and it is being overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The Saudi Astronaut Program, which is an integral part of the Kingdom’s ambitious Vision 2030, will send Saudi astronauts into space to help better serve humanity,” according to the Saudi Space Commission.

“One of the astronauts will be a Saudi woman, whose mission to space will represent a historical first for the Kingdom,” it added.

One of the seven-man crew of NASA's Discovery mission in 1985 was Prince Sultan bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, a half-brother of the crown prince and an air force pilot. He made history as the first Arab or Muslim to fly to space.

In upcoming months, the Arab nation also aims to unveil space projects and initiatives that seek to serve mankind from space with the introduction of its National Space Strategy. Earlier this year, the Netherlands struck a separate agreement with Houston-based Axiom Space, which facilitates research and tourism trips to space aboard U.S. spacecraft.