DgcityA Pakistani astronaut will join an upcoming Chinese space mission and visit China’s orbiting Tiangong station, becoming the first foreign national ever to live and work aboard the outpost, the China Manned Space Agency has announced. The astronaut will fly as a payload specialist on the Shenzhou-24 mission, complete a short stay in orbit, and return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, the agency said. No launch date was given, but the mission is expected before the end of the year. The announcement marks the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of the country’s crewed program.
The historic seat is the product of a cooperation agreement signed in Islamabad in February 2025, when China and Pakistan launched the selection and training of Pakistani astronauts. Two Pakistani pilots, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, were chosen after a three-stage selection process and trained in China alongside Chinese crew members. One will fly while the other serves as backup.
For Beijing, the decision carries meaning well beyond the mission itself. China built Tiangong on its own after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely through American legislation that barred NASA cooperation with China. Bringing a foreign astronaut aboard turns the station into an international platform and offers a visible demonstration that China is open for space cooperation on its own terms.
Pakistan was a natural first partner. The two countries describe their relationship as an all-weather strategic partnership, and China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and a major investor in ports, power stations and infrastructure. Chinese officials have linked the astronaut program to the Belt and Road Initiative and described it as a milestone in space cooperation between the two countries.
More broadly, China has been steadily expanding Tiangong’s international role. Its astronauts have conducted experiments selected through cooperation with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and scientists from several countries have had payloads flown to the station. China has said it welcomes more astronauts from partner nations and is studying expansion of the outpost.
The mission also points to an accelerating crewed schedule. China is developing a new generation of spacecraft and pursuing plans for a crewed landing on the moon before 2030. A multinational flight in low Earth orbit gives its program diplomatic weight that money alone cannot buy.
