The character arc of Rayyanah Barnawi
Born September 1988 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Between then and now sit over nine years as a cancer stem-cell researcher at the bench, a step toward a first no Saudi or Arab woman had made, a launch from Cape Canaveral in May 2023, eight days aboard the International Space Station running science in microgravity, and the work she has led since to hand the door to the students behind her. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Rayyanah Barnawi?
From the lab bench to low Earth orbit.
Before she was the first Saudi woman in space, she was one of many pairs of hands in a quiet room. For over nine years she worked as a research technician in the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, with cancer stem cells and breast cancer her subject, after a bachelor's in biomedical sciences from the University of Otago in New Zealand and a master's from Alfaisal University. That is the part of the line no one photographed, and it is the part that made the rest possible.
In September 2022 Saudi Arabia opened a human spaceflight program, and there was no Saudi or Arab woman ahead of her to follow. On 12 February 2023 she was named to Axiom Mission 2, and on 21 May 2023 she launched aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom. The next day the capsule reached the International Space Station, and she became the first Saudi woman and the first Arab woman to get there, and by one count the 600th human to orbit Earth. She spent eight days aboard running science she knew from the ground, including how breast cancer cells and immune cells behave without gravity, then splashed back down off Florida on 30 May.
The reason to read her line is what she did with the landing. She founded BioGravity, the first community of its kind in the Middle East for biomedical research in microgravity, and by December 2025 work from her mission had helped make a material for cartilage repair in space. Her own hope, said before she flew, was plain: that children who watched would understand that if she and her crewmate could do it, so could they.
The moments
Rayyanah Barnawi's timeline.
The 2010s
Years at the bench
Setback, and it changed her direction. Over nine years as a research technician in the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, cancer stem cells her subject, long before any thought of space.
The 2020s
A first with no map
Setback, and it changed her direction. The Kingdom opened a spaceflight program and she stepped toward it. No Saudi or Arab woman had flown, so there was no one ahead of her to follow.
The bench, or the sky
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: train for the mission, taken, or stay at the bench. She reached orbit the following May, ran her science there, and brought the work back down, then built a community so the next researcher would not have to start from nothing.
Named to the crew
Milestone. She and Ali Al-Qarni were named to fly on Axiom Mission 2, launch set for May.
Launched from Cape Canaveral
Milestone. Aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, after months of training for a decade of lab work she was leaving on the ground.
First Saudi woman up
Milestone, and it changed everything. The capsule reached the International Space Station. She became the first Saudi woman and the first Arab woman to get there, and by one count the 600th human to orbit Earth.
Cancer science in orbit
Milestone. Across the stay she ran a set of experiments in microgravity, among them how breast cancer cells and immune cells behave without gravity, the work she knew from the bench.
Home to a splashdown
Milestone. After eight days aboard the station, the crew splashed down off the coast of Florida. Nine days and change from launch to landing.
She founded BioGravity
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Back on the ground she started BioGravity, the first community of its kind in the Middle East for biomedical research in microgravity.
The first workshop
Everyday. She presented at the opening workshop, the first of a run of sessions bringing researchers and students to the work.
Towards Space
Everyday. The final session of the BioGravity run, carrying the science to the next set of young researchers.
Her science, a repair
Milestone. Work building on her mission produced a material tailored for cartilage repair, made in space. The eight days in orbit were still bearing fruit.
The line reaches today still being drawn, which is why it is shown now rather than at the end. The nine days in orbit were the short part. The longer work, holding open the door she walked through for the students and girls now lining up behind her, is the part still adding to the line.
In her words
Quotes by Rayyanah Barnawi
We're very excited for the part that will be engaging with kids from all over Saudi Arabia and all over the world, talking about our experiments, talking about space and having them trigger their curiosity towards space.
True exploration goes beyond borders and boundaries.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is a line that spent nine quiet years before it climbed. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Rayyanah Barnawi, Wikipedia.
- Axiom Space astronaut biography, axiomspace.com/astronaut/rayyanah-barnawi.
- Saudi Space Agency, ssa.gov.sa and spa.gov.sa (BioGravity, N2198480; cartilage-repair material, N2477504).
- Axiom Mission 2 launch, arrival and splashdown records, May 2023 (Axiom Space; NASA; CNN; Salon).
- Saudi astronauts selected for Axiom private astronaut mission, SpaceNews, 2023.
- Ax-2 pre-launch news conference, May 2023 (Space.com).
- BioGravity initiative statement, October 2024 (Saudi Space Agency; Axiom Space).