The Falcon 9 has successfully blasted off on a private mission carrying Saudi and American astronauts to the ISS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, on a mission from the Houston-based company Axiom Space. It also carried the first Saudi woman to travel to the cosmos.

The mission, dubbed Ax-2, is Axiom’s second private mission bound for the International Space Station. The company utilized SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom, to carry the crew and the Falcon 9 to deliver it from Earth’s atmosphere.

Shortly after liftoff, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket successfully performed a boost-back burn to SpaceX’s Landing Zone-1 and touched down safely about seven minutes and 45 seconds after launch.

The Dragon then detached from the Falcon 9’s upper stage some 12 minutes after liftoff and headed to the ISS to perform a docking scheduled for Monday.

Aboard Freedom are the first two Saudi Arabian nationals to travel to the ISS, including stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi – the first Saudi woman ever to enter space. Joining the Ax-2 as mission pilot is businessman John Shofner, who paid out of his own pocket for the trip.

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Leading the mission is commander Peggy Whitson – a former NASA astronaut who has spent 665 days in space throughout her career, more than any other American or any other woman, and was also the first woman to serve as commander aboard the ISS. She currently works as Axiom’s director of human spaceflight.

The four-person crew is expected to spend eight days aboard the ISS, living and working alongside the seven astronauts currently residing there. They will also conduct independent research, including into how people that have not undergone rigorous training will react when first introduced to microgravity.

Axiom has announced plans to further develop commercialized spaceflight and even launch its own free floating private space station by the end of the decade. The first module of this future station is expected to be sent up to the ISS next year, with another three pieces to follow by the end of 2027.

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The move may prompt more African nations to ratify the Malabo Protocol, a political analyst told TSFT

Kenyan President William Ruto says his country will ratify the 2014 Malabo Protocol by September in a move towards making the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) an official legislative organ of the African Union (AU).

The Malabo Protocol seeks to convert the PAP into a full-fledged legislative body, which would hold jurisdiction over international and transnational organized crimes; in other words, creating an African international crimes court.

The protocol must be approved by at least 28 countries before it can enter into force. However, only 15 of the 22 signatories to the protocol in 2014 have ratified it, making Kenya the 16th.

Ken Bosire, a Kenyan political analyst, told RT that Nairobi’s decision to give the PAP legislative power is a “positive move” that could inspire other African leaders to follow suit. “The new president of Kenya seems to have some kind of persuasive sway among leaders of the region,” he added.

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The ‘Global South’ needs more say on the Security Council, the Indian PM declared

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for the United Nations to be reformed to “reflect the realities of the present.” India has long eyed a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and its demands are now shared by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“Why is the UN, which was started with the idea of establishing peace, not successful in preventing conflicts today?” Modi addressed G7 leaders in Hiroshima on Sunday. “The institutions created in the last century are not in line with the system of the 21st century,” he continued, adding that “they do not reflect the realities of the present.”

“That is why it is necessary that reforms should be implemented in big institutions like the UN,” he stated. “They will also have to become the voice of the Global South. Otherwise, we will only keep talking about ending the conflicts. The UN and the Security Council will remain just a talk shop.”

UN warns against splitting the world ‘in two’

The Security Council consists of 15 members, ten of which serve two-year terms on the body and cannot veto resolutions. Formed in 1945, the Security Council can enforce sanctions, authorize military action, and refer cases for the International Criminal Court – but only with the unanimous consent of the five permanent members.

These five nations – the US, UK, China, France, and Russia – were the first five states to acquire nuclear weapons, and the veto system and its resulting deadlock was largely engineered to prevent them from engaging in nuclear war with one another.

India has since acquired its own atomic weapons, and along with Brazil, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa, is considered a leading candidate to join an expanded Security Council as a permanent member.

Russia has advocated for a more diverse Security Council for years, with Moscow’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, telling the council last year that it “can be democratized only through increasing the representation of African, Asian, and Latin American states.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed Modi’s calls for reform on Sunday, telling reporters that he supports reforming the Security Council to better reflect the “realities of today’s world.”

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