Sultan bin Salman Al Saud

Sultan was born in Riyadh on 27 June 1956.[3][4] He is the second son of King Salman.[5] His older brother was Fahd. His mother was Sultana bint Turki Al Sudairi.[6] She was a daughter of King Salman's uncle, Turki bin Ahmed Al Sudairi,[7] who was one of the former governors of al-Jouf, Jizan and Asir Province and was a participant in the unification campaign under his cousin, the founder of the Kingdom Abdulaziz ibn Saud.[8] Prince Sultan is a full brother of Fahd, Ahmed, Abdulaziz, Faisal and Hassa.[9][10]

Sultan completed his elementary and secondary education in Riyadh.[1] He received a B.A in Mass Communications from the University of Denver[11] and a master's degree in social and political science with distinction from Syracuse University in 1999.[3][4]

Sultan bin Salman started his career in 1982 as a researcher in the department of international communications at the Ministry of Information in Saudi Arabia.[12] His tenure lasted until 1984.[11] He served as deputy director of the Saudi media committee for the Saudi athletes participating in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Later that year, the department of TV advertising was created at the Ministry of Information, and he was appointed its acting director.[12]

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

Later, he assisted in establishing the Association of Space Explorers, an international organization comprising all astronauts and cosmonauts who have been in space, and served on its executive board of directors for several years.[12]

Portrait of STS 51-G crew

In 1985, Sultan recorded a commercial message that was broadcast on MTV during the Live Aid concert event. His message mentioned his recent trip on the Space Shuttle and was one of 33 such by notable individuals including Cesar Chavez, Coretta Scott King, Carl Sagan, Jesse Jackson and Peter Ueberroth. Sultan bin Salman served in the Royal Saudi Air Force beginning in 1985 and held the rank of lieutenant colonel.[12][13] He retired from the air force in 1996 with the rank of colonel.[14]

Patrick Baudry and Prince Sultan in 1985

At the time of his space flight, Sultan had over 1,000 cumulative hours of flight time;[11] as of 2012, he has over 5,000 flight hours as a military and civilian pilot.[15]

On 27 December 2018, Sultan bin Salman was appointed as Chairman of the Board (in the rank of a minister) to the newly established space commission in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Space Commission. From 2009 until joining the space commission, Sultan bin Salman served as the President and Chairman of the Board with the rank of a Minister of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH). He had served as the Commission's Secretary General since its inception in 2000.[14][16] It is claimed that as Secretary-General, he contributed significantly to the improvement of Saudi Arabia's tourism and national heritage strategy, and organizational building and innovation in the Saudi government.[16][17]

Sultan bin Salman Al Saud has written several books:[18]

• Early Documents in (Saudi) Architectural Legacy (وثائق مبكرة في مسيرة التراث العمراني) (2010)[19]
• The Architectural Heritage (سيرة في التراث العمراني) (2010)[20]
• HRH Prince Sultan Ben Salman Ben Abdel Aziz Al Saud, Dr. Ahmed Nabil Abo-khatwa Dr. Tarek Ali Fadaak (2011). One planet, the story of the first Arab mission to space.
• Saudi Arabia's heritage dimension : a lecture given in the Taylor Institution, Oxford on 1 June 2010 by Sulṭān ibn Salmān Ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz
• The Possible Imagination (الخيال الممكن)[21]

Al Saud also edited the following book:

• Facey, William. Back to Earth: Adobe Building in Saudi Arabia, edited by Prince Sultan bin Salman Abd al-Aziz Al Sa'ud. Riyadh: Al Turath Foundation, 2015.[22]

Sultan bin Salman is married to Princess Haifa, daughter of Prince Saud bin Faisal, the late minister of foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia.[23][24] They have three children.[5][25] His son, Salman (born 1990), attended St. Andrew's University in Scotland and Oxford University[24] and married a daughter of Prince Khalid bin Saud Al Saud, a great-grandson of Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman, the brother of King Abdulaziz in Riyadh on 5 December 2012.[26] His daughter (born 1994) also attended St. Andrews University.[24]

Sultan enjoys flying, gliding, skiing, and exploring nature in his spare time.[12] He owns a farm in Diriyah which is a model of modern facilities in a historical setting. His farm reflects his attempt to retrace the origins of the Al Saud family, and to document the Al Saud's claims over the Najd.[27]