Science & Tech · Space · 3 hrs ago
Pakistani astronaut set to become first foreign visitor to Tiangong
A Pakistani astronaut is expected to visit China's Tiangong station on the Shenzhou 24 mission, due to launch before the end of November.
It would be the first time a foreign astronaut visits Tiangong.
Two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, are in training, but officials have not said which one will fly.
The selected astronaut will travel with two Chinese crew members as a payload specialist and spend about a week in orbit.
The astronaut will then return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 23, rather than on the arriving spacecraft.
The arrangement changes the usual crew rotation, allowing one Chinese astronaut to remain in orbit for a year.
The Pakistani astronaut will also oversee four research payloads selected from more than 300 proposals.
A Pakistani astronaut is set to become the first international visitor to China’s Tiangong space station on the Shenzhou 24 mission.
One of two Pakistani candidates will fly as a payload specialist alongside two Chinese astronauts, but the selected candidate has not been identified.
The Pakistani astronaut is expected to spend about a week in orbit and return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 23.
The mission is expected to launch before the end of November, though China has not announced a launch date.
Both Pakistani candidates studied Chinese at the Islamabad Confucius Institute, according to a Chinese university official.
- Who
- One of two Pakistani astronaut candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali or Khurram Daud. The selected candidate has not been named.
- What
- A Pakistani astronaut is set to visit Tiangong on the Shenzhou 24 mission as a payload specialist, becoming the station’s first international visitor.
- When
- The launch is expected before the end of November 2026. China has not announced a launch date.
- Where
- The Tiangong space station, in orbit around Earth; Shenzhou 24 is set to launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
- Why
- The mission is part of an agreement between China and Pakistan and will carry a Pakistani astronaut for a short stay and research work.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
China and Pakistan reached an agreement on the astronaut arrangement in Islamabad.
China’s human spaceflight agency confirmed that a Pakistani astronaut would fly on Shenzhou 24.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the flight would mark China’s first joint mission involving Chinese and foreign astronauts.
Beijing Language and Culture University official Qu Zhaowei said both Pakistani candidates had studied Chinese at the Islamabad Confucius Institute.
Shenzhou 24 is expected to launch, although China has not announced a date.
- Mission
- Shenzhou 24
- Candidates
- Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud
- Planned role
- Payload specialist
- Expected stay
- Roughly one week in orbit
- Launch site
- Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gobi Desert
- Research work
- Four payloads selected from more than 300 proposals
3 sources
What people are saying
Having the Pakistani astronaut on board China's spaceships will mark the first-ever joint mission of Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's manned space program.
It lets us see that Chinese is not only a language for exchanging ideas, but is also becoming an important language connecting knowledge, science and technology, innovation and the future of humanity.