Astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) left the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, becoming the first Arab citizen to travel in space. The United Arab Emirates called this moment “historic”, reports AFP.

Al Neyadi, 41, is the fourth astronaut from an Arab country and the second from the Emirati to go into space, but the first to leave the ISS for about six hours and 30 minutes.

Wearing a spacesuit emblazoned with the United Arab Emirates flag, he made “the first ever spacewalk by an Arab astronaut,” the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) said on its website, calling the event ” more one historical milestone”.

Together with the American Steven Bowen, his mission includes “preparation for the installation of solar panels”, the astronaut explained on Twitter.

Dubbed the “Sultan of Space”, he is also the first Arab to embark on a long-duration space mission. He flew to the ISS in early March aboard a Space X Falcon 9 rocket.

The wealthy Gulf nation of the United Arab Emirates entered the space race in 2019 by sending Hazzaa al-Mansouri into space on an eight-day mission to the ISS. But he did not go into outer space.

In 1985, Saudi Arabia sent the first ever Arab and Muslim astronaut to the ISS during a US space flight.

A lunar rover built by the United Arab Emirates was lost on Wednesday during a mission to the moon.

In 2021, the Persian Gulf country sent an orbital probe to Mars, and that mission ended in failure.

UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum quickly ordered the MBRSC to begin work on a second rover, dubbed Rashid 2.