Saudi to send its first female astronaut into space

Saudi Arabia to send their first ever female astronaut on a space mission this year.

This move will revamp their ultra-conservative image.

Rayyana Barnawi will join fellow Saudi male astronaut Ali Al-Qarni on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The astronauts "will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission" and the space flight will "launch from the USA", reports AFP.

In 1985, Saudi royal Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, an airforce pilot, took part in a US-organised space mission, becoming the first Arab Muslim to travel into space.