Want to get some astronauts to the International Space Station? Don't put yourself in harms way. If you have a lot of money, you can buy two seats on the Crew Dragon of the International Space Station. Saudi Arabia is said to have just done that.
Saudi Arabia signed a deal with a private spaceflight company to send two of its astronauts to the outpost aboard a passenger craft. The previous Axiom seats have sold for over 50 million dollars.
The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US has been tense in the past. According to sources, the Gulf nation's deep pockets and oil reserves have helped to smooth over any international controversy, while NASA has yet to approve the Saudis' astronauts.
It's not surprising to see Saudi Arabia engage in this kind of privatized space travel. The William Shatners and Jeff Bezoses of the world can rake in some cash by sending them to the edges of the atmosphere, but providing nations with the vehicles and resources they need to throw their hat in. That's a huge opportunity.
Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has signed an exploration deal with the company. The first Turkish astronauts will be launched in late 2023.
The Turkish politician Serdar Hseyin Yldrm said in a press release that the mission is part of Turkey's 10-year space road map.
Turkey hopes to launch a private space station in the next few years and all of the contracts fit into that. These missions are good for NASA because the agency wants to work with commercial space operations to develop a robust low-Earth economy. It's definitely a bet on the future of space travel, but what about the evidence? It's probably a good bet.
Sources say that Saudi Arabia bought a pair of seats from the space company.
Space tourists are required to be real astronauts in order to get to the International Space Station.
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