Saudi CubeSat to Join NASA’s Artemis II Mission: A New Era of Space Cooperation?
In a landmark announcement made in Riyadh, a Saudi CubeSat will embark on a journey to space aboard NASA's Artemis II mission. This collaboration, unveiled during a visit by then-President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia and a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, marks a significant step in international space cooperation and highlights Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the space sector.
The Artemis II mission, NASA's first crewed flight under the Artemis program, aims to send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon. While the Orion spacecraft, carrying the crew, ventures beyond Earth, the Saudi CubeSat, along with others from Germany and South Korea, will be deployed from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket into high Earth orbit.
These CubeSats, approximately the size of a shoebox, are designed to conduct scientific investigations and test new technologies. The Saudi CubeSat is equipped with instruments to measure crucial aspects of space weather, including space radiation, solar X-rays, solar energetic particles, and magnetic fields at varying distances from Earth. 
This isn't Saudi Arabia's first foray into space exploration. Nearly four decades ago, Sultan bin Salman Al Saud flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-G, becoming the first Arab and royal family member to venture into space. More recently, in 2023, Axiom Space also flew two Saudi astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Previous satellites developed by the kingdom include SaudiSat 5A and 5B, a pair of imaging satellites launched from China in 2018.
The Artemis II mission could potentially be one of the last hurrahs for NASA's SLS rocket. Proposed budget cuts could lead to the termination of the SLS program, with NASA exploring commercial alternatives for future missions. However, with Saudi Arabia's significant investment in space exploration, attaching a CubeSat to the SLS seems a small price to pay.
The inclusion of the Saudi CubeSat on the Artemis II mission signifies the growing importance of international collaboration in space exploration and marks a new chapter in the relationship between NASA and the Saudi Space Agency. Will this be the start of increasing Saudi Arabia participation to the Artemis program? What other international collaborations can we expect to see in the future of space exploration?
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