Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is coming home to the UAE 

The record-breaker returns on 18 September.

Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has been inspiring the UAE. Sultan embarked on the longest-ever Arab space mission, and is scheduled to return home to the UAE on 18 September. 

Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) confirmed on X: “After astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi carried Zayed’s Ambition to space, it is now time for his homecoming. Stay tuned for his return to the UAE on 18 September, following the completion of the longest Arab space mission in history.” 

Sultan spent six months – 184 days, to be precise – in space. The mission took off on 2 March, and docked onto the ISS on 3 March. He then landed in Florida on 4 September. Sultan was part of Crew-6 on the ISS, which consisted of Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA’s Mission Commander Stephen Bowen, and Pilot Warren Hoburg.

During his mission, he conducted scientific experiments, which aimed to contribute to the betterment of humanity and the scientific community. The mission, Zayed Ambition 2, hopes to fulfil the ambition of the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Sultan made history on 28 April: he helped make the UAE the tenth country to perform a spacewalk, and he was the 262nd person to perform a spacewalk. Spacewalks, known as Extravehicular Activity, are crucial for maintaining the ISS. In order to complete the spacewalk, he trained for more than 55 hours in a mock-up of the ISS.

Throughout his trip, Sultan has shared how he is proud to represent the country. He even bought local food onboard and shared dates with his teams during Ramadan.

We look forward to giving him a hero’s welcome. 

GO: Follow @astro_alneyadi on Instagram for more information.