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On this day in 1985: Saudi prince became the first Arab in space
Updated On: 18 June, 2026 09:19 AM IST | Dubai | Agencies
And because he was a prince in the House of Saud, he became the first member of a royal family to go to space; he was 28 years old at the time and holds the record for being the youngest person to fly on the space shuttle

Sultan Salman Abdelize Al-Saud. PIC COURTESY/NASA
On June 17, 1985, the space shuttle Discovery launched on NASA’s STS-51G mission, carrying payload specialist Sultan Salman Abdelize Al Saud, a Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who became the first Arab and first Muslim in space.
And because he was a prince in the House of Saud, he became the first member of a royal family to go to space.
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