Pakistan astronaut selected for China's next space station mission

China's Manned Space Agency has selected a Pakistani astronaut to serve as a payload specialist on an upcoming Shenzhou mission to the country's space station. If the flight goes ahead as planned, the astronaut would become the first foreign national to visit China's orbital outpost. Chinese state media said the mission is expected by the end of the year, although no departure date has been announced.

The astronaut has not been publicly named. China has also not said which of the Pakistani candidates will fly, but the selection follows months of training in Beijing. Two Pakistani pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, spent time at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, where the programme included operational exercises and Chinese language lessons.

The cooperation was formalised in February, when Pakistan and China signed an agreement to train Pakistani astronauts under a Chinese government-led programme. The arrangement adds a human-spaceflight dimension to a wider bilateral relationship that already includes trade, investment and other strategic ties. China is Pakistan's largest trading partner and a major foreign investor, according to the report.

The mission is also linked to China's broader space ambitions. Beijing has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years and aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. The report said the China National Space Administration also plans to deploy Jinnah-1, Pakistan's first lunar rover, as part of the cooperation.

The rover weighs 35 kilograms and is designed to study plasma behaviour, radiation and the composition of lunar soil. The development comes as China continues to expand the use of its space station and deepen international participation in its programme. The report said the Pakistani astronaut would join the Shenzhou-24 mission, and after a short stay in orbit would return to Earth on Shenzhou-23.

That detail suggests the mission is being planned within China's existing crew rotation system, although the exact launch sequence has not been publicly confirmed. What remains unclear is the identity of the astronaut, the final launch date and the precise role the Pakistani specialist will play on the mission. It is also not known whether the lunar rover deployment will happen on the same timetable as the crewed flight.

For now, the selection marks a notable step in China-Pakistan space cooperation and a rare opening of China's space station to a foreign national.

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