Pakistani astronaut to join Shenzhou-24 mission to China's space station

<p>A Pakistani astronaut will travel to China’s Tiangong space station aboard the Shenzhou-24 mission, becoming the first foreigner to visit the orbiting outpost, Beijing’s manned space agency said on Saturday.</p> <p>Pakistan and China are close diplomatic and strategic partners, and signed a deal in February 2025 setting up a Chinese government training programme for Pakistani astronauts.</p> <p>The statement by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) did not give a date of departure, but the mission is expected to take place by the end of the year.</p> <p>However, earlier in October, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the space mission would take place on <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/2038193">Nov 25</a> while addressing a ceremony.</p> <p>The Pakistani astronaut, a payload specialist, will join a short orbital flight before returning with the Shenzhou-23 spaceship, which docked at the Tiangong space station in May, according to the CMSA.</p> <p>The agency did not name the Pakistani crew member, but said in April that astronauts <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1994090">Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud</a> had been chosen to start training in China.</p> <p>Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1994354">met the two</a> in April, and congratulated them on their selection. He said the space mission was a “matter of pride for the entire nation” and further commended their “round-the-clock efforts” in achieving the milestone.</p> <p>PM Shehbaz hoped that the space mission would “add new dimensions to the brotherly relationship between Pakistan and China”.</p> <p>Beijing has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years — catching up with its main rival the United States — and aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.</p> <p>Pakistan is a natural partner, given the countries decades-long, “all-weather” friendship. China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and a major foreign investor.</p> <p>In February 2025, Suparco and CMSA had <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1894986/china-to-train-take-pakistani-astronauts-into-space"><u>signed</u></a> a cooperation agreement. Under the pact, two Pakistanis were to train in China, with one joining a mission on the Tiangong space station operated by Beijing.</p> <p>China has been barred from particip­ating in the International Space Station since 2011, when the US prohibited Nasa from collaborating with Chinese space agencies. Since then, Beijing has sought to build partnerships with other countries — including Pakistan — in its expanding space programme.</p>