page_title: Sultan bin Salman Al Saud
section_title: Early experience
hierarchical_section_title: Sultan bin Salman Al Saud / Early experience
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of STS 51-G crew. Kneeling in front are Astronauts Daniel C. Brandenstein (left) and John O. Creighton, commander and pilot, respectively. Astronauts Shannon W. Lucid, Steven R. Nagel, and John M. Fabian, mission specialist (l.-r.) joing Payload specialists Sultan Salman Abdelazize Al-Saud (second right) and Patrick Baudry on the back row. Image ID:S85-32877
context_page_description: Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is a former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle mission as a payload specialist, and a member of the House of Saud. He is the first member of a royal family to fly in space, the first Arab to fly in space, and the first Muslim to fly in space, as well as the youngest person ever to fly on the Space Shuttle. On 27 December 2018, he was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Space Commission at the rank of minister.
context_section_description: Sultan bin Salman started his career in 1982 as a researcher in the department of international communications at the Ministry of Information in Saudi Arabia. His tenure lasted until 1984. He served as deputy director of the Saudi media committee for the Saudi athletes participating in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Later that year, the department of TV advertising was created at the Ministry of Information, and he was appointed its acting director.
  From 17 June through 24 June 1985, he flew as a payload specialist on STS-51-G Discovery. As one of a seven-member international crew, which also included American and French astronauts, he represented the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) in deploying its satellite, ARABSAT-1B.
  Later, he assisted in establishing the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization comprising all astronauts and cosmonauts who have been in space.  Currently, Sultan is a member of ASE’s International Executive Committee.
  In 1985, Sultan recorded a commercial message that was broadcast on MTV during the Live Aid concert event. His message mentioned his recent trip on the Space Shuttle and was one of 33 such by notable individuals including Cesar Chavez, Coretta Scott King, Carl Sagan, Jesse Jackson and Peter Ueberroth. Sultan bin Salman served in the Royal Saudi Air Force beginning in 1985 and held the rank of lieutenant colonel. He retired from the air force in 1996 with the rank of colonel.
  At the time of his space flight, Sultan had over 1,000 cumulative hours of flight time; as of February 2020, he has over 8,000 flight hours as a military and civilian pilot.
caption: Portrait of STS 51-G crew
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