Pakistani astronaut selected for China space station mission

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 7 Nov, 10:36 · Archive

A Pakistani astronaut will become the first foreign national to board China's space station aboard the Shenzhou-24 mission.

A Pakistani astronaut has been selected as a payload specialist for China's Shenzhou-24 mission, making them the first foreign national to visit China's space station, Chinese state media reported on Saturday. The individual has not been named. The astronaut was chosen from two Pakistani military pilots, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, who underwent months of training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre in Beijing. Their preparation included intensive Chinese language lessons and practical operational exercises.

The astronaut will complete a short-term in-orbit flight and return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. China has not yet announced a launch date, though Al Jazeera reports the mission is expected to take place by the end of the year. The mission marks the first flight involving foreign astronauts in the history of China's crewed space programme.

The selection is part of a February 2025 agreement between Pakistan and China on bilateral space cooperation. Under the same agreement, China's National Space Administration is also deploying Pakistan's first lunar rover, Jinnah-1, a 35-kilogramme spacecraft equipped with scientific instruments to study lunar soil, radiation and plasma properties. The rover is scheduled to launch aboard the Chang'e 8 mission to the lunar south pole in 2028. Pakistan currently lacks independent launch vehicles or crewed spacecraft capabilities.

How it is being reported

• Pakistani astronaut to join China’s next space station missionThe unnamed individual will be the first foreign national to visit China's space station as part of Shenzhou-24 mission.Al Jazeera · 7 Nov, 10:17
• Pakistani astronaut to become first foreigner on China’s space stationAstronaut would complete a short on-orbit flight and then return to EarthIndependent World · 7 Nov, 07:23

In this story: Pakistan · China · Muhammad Zeeshan Ali · Khurram Daud · China National Space Administration · Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log