A Pakistani astronaut will become the first foreign visitor to China’s Tiangong space station, flying aboard the Shenzhou-24 crewed mission as a payload specialist, the China Manned Space Agency has announced.
The agency confirmed the plan on Saturday, in an announcement carried by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and the Xinhua news agency. It marks the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China’s crewed space programme.
The astronaut will carry out a short stay in orbit, taking part in space science experiments and related work, before returning to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, according to the agency.
China has not named the astronaut, and Beijing has not announced a launch date for the mission. Two Pakistani pilots, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have spent months training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing, a Pakistani space agency official told Reuters in September. One of the two will fly, with the other serving as backup.
The mission is the result of a cooperation agreement signed in February 2025 between the China Manned Space Agency and Pakistan’s space agency, SUPARCO, covering the selection and training of Pakistani astronauts and their participation in Chinese space station missions. The two candidates were chosen through a three-stage selection process and completed their training in China earlier this year.
For China, the flight is a milestone in its effort to open the Tiangong station to international partners. Unlike the International Space Station, Tiangong is operated solely by China, and Beijing has presented it as a platform for cooperation with other countries, including through its Belt and Road Initiative.
The Shenzhou-23 crew already in orbit includes Hong Kong’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, who travelled to the station in May. The Pakistani astronaut’s short visit will be a separate, brief mission rather than a full crew rotation.
Sources: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/science/pakistani-astronaut-join-china-space-stations-shenzhou-24-mission-2026-11-07/ ; Xinhua — https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30053509814
