China to Send First Pakistani Astronaut to Tiangong Space Station

China is preparing to send a Pakistani astronaut to its Tiangong space station later this year, marking the first time a foreign astronaut will travel to the Chinese orbital laboratory.

Two Pakistani pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have undergone months of intensive training in China, including Mandarin lessons, spacecraft operations, centrifuge exercises and training for life in microgravity.

Pakistan’s space agency, SUPARCO, is expected to select the astronaut between mid and late October. The chosen pilot will spend about a week aboard Tiangong as a payload specialist, conducting scientific experiments rather than operating the spacecraft.

The mission is part of growing space cooperation between Pakistan and China under their broader strategic partnership. The cooperation has already included Chinese launches of Pakistani satellites, a joint satellite-navigation system and the development of a Pakistani lunar rover scheduled to travel aboard China’s Chang’e 8 mission around 2028.

SUPARCO said more than 300 research proposals were submitted by universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Chinese institutions selected four biotechnology experiments aimed at addressing issues including food insecurity and climate change.

Pakistan currently does not have its own crewed spacecraft or independent launch vehicle. The astronaut will therefore travel aboard a Chinese-built spacecraft, launch from a Chinese facility and communicate in Mandarin while in orbit.

The planned mission would make Pakistan the first country whose astronaut is transported to Tiangong by China. Since the first human spaceflight by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961, citizens of about 50 countries have travelled into space, but only Russia, the United States and China have independently launched crewed spacecraft.

Pakistani officials said there is currently no official agreement or discussion about sending a Pakistani astronaut to the Moon through the partnership.

The Pakistani lunar rover planned for Chang’e 8 is a separate project. It will use AI-based stereo imaging to identify obstacles, estimate depth and navigate across the lunar surface without real-time control from Earth.

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