In this image from NASA TV, Ali al-Qarni, second from left, and Rayyanah Barnawi of Saudi Arabia, second right, have a drink alongside two cosmonauts in the International Space Station, Monday, May 22, 2023. The space station rolled out the welcome mat for the two Saudi visitors, including the kingdom's first female astronaut. Credit: NASA TV via AP

The International Space Station rolled out the welcome mat Monday for two Saudi visitors, including the kingdom's first female astronaut.

SpaceX's chartered flight arrived at the orbiting lab less than 16 hours after blasting off from Florida. The four guests will spend just over a week there, before returning to Earth in their capsule.

The 270-mile-high (430-kilometer-high) docking puts the space station population at 11, representing not only Saudi Arabia and the U.S., but the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

UAE's astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi greeted them with dates, a traditional Arab welcome.

"This shows how space brings everyone together," said Saudi Arabia's first female astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher. "I'm going to live this experience to the max."

Saudi fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni dedicated the visit to everyone back home. "This mission is not just for me and Rayyanah. This mission is also for the people with ambition and dreams."

The Saudi government is picking up the multimillion-dollar tab for both of them.

John Shoffner, a Knoxville, Tennessee, businessman who started a sports car racing team, is paying his own way. Retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is their chaperone. She now works for Axiom Space, the Houston company that organized the 10-day trip, its second to the space station.

  • In this image from NASA TV, top row from left, Ali al-Qarni, John Shoffner, Rayyanah Barnawi, and Peggy Whitson, pose for a picture with current residents of the International Space Station, Monday, May 22, 2023. The space station rolled out the welcome mat for the two Saudi visitors, including the kingdom's first female astronaut. Credit: NASA TV via AP

  • In this image from NASA TV, the sun rises over the International Space Station after a SpaceX capsule docked, Monday, May 22, 2023. The space station rolled out the welcome mat for two Saudi visitors, including the kingdom's first female astronaut. Credit: NASA TV via AP

  • The crew of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, from left, Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, commandeer Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner and Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali al-Qarni arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., before their launch to the International Space Station, Sunday, May 21, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

  • Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi waves to family and friends as she arrives at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a scheduled launch Sunday, May 21, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

  • A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon capsule and a crew of four private astronauts, lifts off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Sunday, May 21, 2023. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

The company cited ticket prices of $55 million each for last year's private trip by three businessmen, but won't say how much the latest seats cost.

Only one other Saudi has flown before in space, a prince who rode on NASA's shuttle Discovery in 1985.

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