Pakistani astronaut to board Shenzhou 24 and become the first foreigner on China's space station

A Pakistani astronaut will join the crew of China's Shenzhou 24 spacecraft on a mission that would make him the first foreign national to board Beijing's space station, state media reported Saturday.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, the Pakistani astronaut would complete a short on-orbit flight and then return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, China's official news agency Xinhua reported, without specifying the launch date.

The mission would mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's manned space programme, it said.

Earlier this year, Xinhua reported that two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, started their training alongside their Chinese counterparts, and the plan was that one of them would be selected as a payload specialist for a short-term spaceflight mission.

While the training focused on developing hands-on operational capabilities, it also involved “intensive Chinese language instruction,” it said.

The upcoming flight is part of an agreement signed by China and Pakistan in February 2025.

China is preparing for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. The US is seen as China’s top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.