The United Arab Emirates announced Monday that the first astronaut from the Gulf country will blast off on a mission to the International Space Station on September 25. The oil-rich state has two astronauts in training, selected from more than 4,000 applicants, as it looks to get an ambitious space programme aimed at exploring Mars off the ground. The authorities said a decision on which of the two astronauts would take off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for the eight-day mission will be made in May.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019