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Tag: Tiangong

  • Pakistan’s First Astronaut Heads to Space with China

    Pakistan’s First Astronaut Heads to Space with China

    China has said it is ready to deepen its cooperation with Pakistan in space and other fields, just days after confirming that a Pakistani astronaut will fly aboard one of its crewed space missions.

    The message came from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, who told a regular press briefing in Beijing that China stood ready to work with the Pakistani side to carry forward the two countries’ traditional friendship and take bilateral relations to new heights.

    “We stand ready to work with the Pakistani side to carry forward our traditional friendship, deepen cooperation in space and other fields, and bring bilateral relations to new heights,” Guo said at the briefing, according to reports of his remarks.

    The announcement that a Pakistani astronaut will join the Shenzhou-24 mission crew as a payload specialist, complete a short flight in orbit and then return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, has put the partnership in the spotlight. According to Chinese officials, it will be the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China’s manned space programme, and the first time a foreign astronaut visits China’s Tiangong space station.

    Two Pakistani pilots, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, were chosen to train in China for the mission. Which of the two will make the flight has not yet been announced.

    A partnership reaching beyond Earth

    The flight follows an agreement signed in Islamabad in February 2025 between Pakistan’s space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, and the China Manned Space Agency, covering astronaut selection, training and participation in Chinese space station missions. The two candidates have been training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre in Beijing.

    Guo also underlined that China supports the peaceful use of outer space and active international cooperation there, describing the exploration of the universe as a shared pursuit of humanity. He noted that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners, and called the coming flight yet another key outcome of bilateral cooperation in the year marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

    Space cooperation between the two countries already extends well beyond the astronaut programme. Pakistan has flown payloads on Chinese lunar missions, and the two sides are working together on a Pakistani-built lunar rover planned for China’s Chang’e-8 mission, expected around 2028. Pakistan’s planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, has also said the country aims to land on the Moon by 2035, with Chinese cooperation helping to advance that ambition.

    China, meanwhile, has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years and aims to land its own astronauts on the Moon by 2030. For Pakistan, the coming mission offers a chance to send a person, along with home-grown research, to a working laboratory in orbit. Pakistan’s planning minister has pointed to a launch later in November, although the Chinese space agency has not confirmed a date, saying only that the flight is expected before the end of the year.

  • Pakistani Astronaut to Fly to China’s Space Station

    Pakistani Astronaut to Fly to China’s Space Station

    A Pakistani astronaut will join the crew of China’s Shenzhou-24 spacecraft on a mission that would make him the first foreign national to board China’s Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday, 7 November.

    According to the agency, the Pakistani astronaut will serve as a payload specialist, complete a short stay in orbit and then return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. The mission would mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China’s manned space programme, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported.

    Two Pakistani candidates, pilots Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have been training in China alongside their Chinese counterparts, and the plan is for one of them to be selected for the short-term spaceflight. The agency has not said which of the two will fly, and it has not announced a launch date. The training has focused on hands-on operational capabilities and has also involved intensive Chinese language instruction, Xinhua reported.

    The flight is part of an agreement on astronaut cooperation signed by China and Pakistan in February 2025, under which Pakistan became the first country to send an astronaut to China’s space station under the programme. The selection and training of the Pakistani candidates has been carried out jointly by the China Manned Space Agency and Pakistan’s space agency, SUPARCO.

    A first for China’s space station

    Since Tiangong began operations, every crew member aboard has been Chinese. The arrival of a Pakistani astronaut would therefore be a milestone for the station, which China operates as an alternative to the International Space Station. China is also preparing for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030, while the United States, seen as China’s top space rival, aims to land astronauts on the Moon’s surface in 2028.

    For Pakistan, the mission is a landmark moment in its space programme, which has grown steadily in recent years through cooperation with China. The country’s first satellite launches and its lunar CubeSat, carried aboard China’s Chang’e-6 mission in 2024, were earlier steps on the same path. A Pakistani flag flying aboard Tiangong would put the country among the small group of nations whose citizens have lived and worked in orbit.

    The space agency said only that the flight would take place by the end of the year. Until the crew is named, the two candidates will continue their preparations in China, with one of them set to make history as the first Pakistani, and the first foreigner, to visit the Chinese space station.