RIYADH — Prince Sultan Bin Salman, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission, has congratulated the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SPACE X) on the successful launching the "Falcon-9" rocket to the space.

The 19-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with two US astronauts on the Crew Dragon capsule announced the return of the US manned flights to the space from the US territories following an absence of nine years.

In two cables to the NASA and SPACE X's officials, Prince Sultan affirmed that this launch is an important event that will be preserved by the history of space exploration because it is the first time that a commercial company has transferred astronauts outside the Earth's orbit and to the International Space Station.

He added that it is also an important moment for the NASA and the US space industry, which has a partnership dating back to the mid-eighties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia when the Saudi scientific team and astronaut took part in a successful mission to space via the Discovery Spacecraft.

Prince Sultan stressed that this space mission represents a first of its kind via a commercial company and this is a qualitative shift that opens a wider field for the private sector's companies to contribute to the development of the space sector and benefit from the major economic opportunities in the field of space.

Meanwhile, NASA has announced the launch of a Falcon-9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Demo-2 mission with two US astronauts onboard via the Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) pad at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA pointed out that the first manned space flight to the moon was launched from the same place using Saturn V rocket to launch the crew of Apollo 11. — SPA