NASA Astronaut Group 23 (nicknamed The Flies) was announced on December 6, 2021, with the class reporting for duty in January 2022.

[2] The Group 23 astronaut candidates were originally planned to arrive at the Johnson Space Center in Houston for training in the summer of 2021, and with the completion of their approximately two-year-long training program, they would become available for future missions to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit aboard NASA or commercial crew vehicles, the Moon via the Artemis program, and Mars.

[1] However, due to complications with interviewing potential applicants in person due to COVID-19 restrictions at JSC, the announcement of the new class was pushed back twice: The selection of Group 23 was announced on December 6, 2021, with training to commence in January 2022.

[7][8] Group 23, including the two Emirati candidates, graduated NASA's astronaut training program on March 5, 2024, becoming eligible for assignment to future missions.

[9] The list:[10] Two candidate astronauts from the United Arab Emirates are training as part of the group 23:[11][12]