Pakistani astronaut set for China's space station mission

The China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday that a Pakistani payload specialist will join the Shenzhou-24 crew for a short orbital mission to the Tiangong space station later this year, marking the first time Beijing has hosted a foreign astronaut aboard its orbital outpost as part of a bilateral cooperation agreement.

Mission profile

The Pakistani specialist will conduct scientific experiments aboard the station before returning to Earth with the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, which docked at Tiangong in May. The agency did not specify an exact launch date, though the mission is expected to occur before the end of the year, according to the CMSA statement.

Candidate selection

The agency said in April that astronauts Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud had been chosen to begin training in China under a government program established by the February 2025 deal. One of the pair will serve as payload specialist on the upcoming flight, focusing on scientific tasks during the short stay, though officials have not yet disclosed which candidate will make the journey.

Strategic cooperation

The mission underscores the "all-weather" strategic partnership between Islamabad and Beijing, with China serving as Pakistan's largest trading partner and a major foreign investor. Chinese state media reported that following initial training, Pakistani astronauts will conduct short-term missions with Chinese crews over the "next few years" as Beijing pursues its goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030.