Sultan bin Salman Al Saud

Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud (born 27 June 1956 in Riyadh) is a Saudi prince and former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew in 1985 as a payload specialist aboard the American Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the first member of a royal family, the first Arab and the first Muslim to fly in space, and the youngest person ever to fly on a space shuttle. ^{1 2}

He is the second son of King Salman and his eldest surviving son, and a grandson of the kingdom's founder, King Abdulaziz; he led Saudi Arabia's tourism and national heritage sector for two decades and then chaired the Saudi Space Commission from its inception. ^{1 2}

Sultan was born in Riyadh on 27 June 1956, the second son of Prince Salman, then governor of Riyadh province and now King of Saudi Arabia; his mother was Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi, and he is a full brother of Fahd, Ahmed, Abdulaziz, Faisal and Hassa. ¹

He completed his elementary and secondary education in Riyadh, received a bachelor's degree in mass communications from the University of Denver, and a master's degree in social and political science with distinction from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1999; his thesis, according to the Arabic article, was titled "Tribal transformation and national construction in the Saudi experience". ^{1 2}

Sultan began his career in 1982 as a researcher in the department of international communications at the Ministry of Information, where he served until 1984; he was deputy director of the Saudi media committee for the Saudi athletes at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and later that year acting director of the ministry's newly created department of TV advertising. ¹

He also held early civil aviation qualifications: the Arabic article records an American federal aviation licence in 1976 and a Saudi civil aviation licence in 1978, with a French validation of foreign pilot licences in 2009. ²

From 17 to 24 June 1985 Sultan flew as a payload specialist on the STS-51-G Discovery mission, one of a seven-member international crew that also included American and French astronauts, representing the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) in deploying its satellite ARABSAT-1B. ¹

At the time of his flight he had over 1,000 cumulative flight hours; as of February 2020 he had over 8,000 flight hours as a military and civilian pilot. ¹

He later helped establish the Association of Space Explorers, the international organisation of astronauts and cosmonauts who have been in space, and serves on its International Executive Committee; in 1985 he recorded a commercial message broadcast on MTV during the Live Aid concert, one of 33 such messages by notable individuals. ¹

Sultan served in the Royal Saudi Air Force from 1985, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel and passing through King Faisal Air College in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran, and retired in 1996 with the rank of colonel. ^{1 2}

He founded the Saudi Aviation Club and chairs its board, and is honorary president of the Arab Tourism Organization. ²

He served as secretary general of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage from its inception in 2000 and as its president and chairman from 2009 until 27 December 2018, contributing significantly to Saudi Arabia's tourism and national heritage strategy and to organisational building in the Saudi government. ^{1 2}

On 27 December 2018 he was appointed chairman of the board of the Saudi Space Commission with the rank of minister, remaining in the post until 2 May 2021 according to the Arabic article, and was then appointed special advisor to the King with the rank of minister and chairman of the board of trustees of the King Salman Foundation, a newly established non-profit organisation. ^{1 2}

In 2005 Sultan founded the Prince Sultan bin Salman Award for Architectural Heritage, aiming to promote a culture of care for the architectural heritage of Saudi Arabia. ²

His books include Early Documents in (Saudi) Architectural Legacy (2010), The Architectural Heritage (2010), One Planet — the story of the first Arab mission to space (2011), written with Ahmed Nabil Abo Khatwa and Tarek Ali Fadaak, and The Possible Imagination; he also edited William Facey's Back to Earth: Adobe Building in Saudi Arabia (Al Turath Foundation, 2015). ¹

This section should be read as a presentation of positions reported by the sources, not as the museum's verdict on them.

The English article recounts that after landing he spoke with Abdulaziz ibn Baz, the Saudi scholar who later became Grand Mufti, and told him he had observed the rotation of the Earth; Ibn Baz, the article says, had previously held that "the Earth is fixed and stable", but he trusted Sultan as a Muslim witness. The museum presents this account attributed to its source, without adopting a verdict on the scientific or juristic question it touches. ¹

His name has long been associated with disability causes in Saudi Arabia: his honours, as listed in the Arabic article, include "Man of the Year 1997" for his contributions in the field of disability, from Al Majalla magazine, and a 1999 certificate from Temple University's medical college for leadership toward improving the lives of disabled people. ²

His many decorations include the King Abdulaziz Sash (1985), NASA's Space Flight Medal and a certificate of appreciation from the Johnson Space Center (1985), the French Chevalier honour (1985), an honorary doctorate in science from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (1986), orders and medals from numerous Arab, Muslim and other states, and the Kuwait liberation medals (1993). ²

Sultan is married to Princess Haifa bint Saud Al Faisal and has three children; he owns a farm in Diriyah combining modern facilities in a historical setting, which, according to the English article, reflects his attempt to retrace the origins of the Al Saud family and to document the Al Saud's claims over Najd. ^{1 2}

• The defined sources cited above, registered in data/source/.
• Later translations and edits of this article require periodic review with clear update dates.