In brief
According to Al Jazeera, China’s Manned Space Agency will send a Pakistani payload specialist aboard Shenzhou‑24, marking the first foreign visit to its space station. The decision follows a Belt and Road training partnership and coincides with Pakistan’s deployment of the lunar rover Jinnah‑1. With China’s broader goal to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, the mission signals a deepening China‑Pakistan space collaboration amid a global race to develop lunar nuclear reactors.
Al Jazeera reports that China’s Manned Space Agency has chosen a Pakistani astronaut for its next Shenzhou‑24 mission, making the unnamed individual the first foreign national to visit the Chinese space station before the year’s end.
According to the source, the astronaut will serve as a payload specialist aboard the spacecraft that will dock with China’s Tiangong‑Space Station as part of a broader Belt and Road Initiative partnership with Pakistan.
Al Jazeera notes that while the specific name of the astronaut has not yet been announced, the training program began last February when Pakistan and China signed an agreement to establish a Chinese‑government‑led program for training Pakistani astronauts.
The report states that Pakistani pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have spent several months training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing for a future mission, a critical step in preparing the candidate for spaceflight.
According to the outlet, China will also deploy Jinnah‑1, Pakistan’s inaugural lunar rover, during the same mission. The rover, weighing 35 kg, carries scientific instruments designed to analyze plasma behavior, radiation, and the composition of lunar soil.
Al Jazeera details that the training program for the Pakistani astronaut will include practical operational exercises, as well as intensive Chinese language lessons, to ensure readiness for the mission’s technical and communicative demands.
The article cites Beijing’s China Central Television, which reported that after completing a short‑term in‑orbit flight, the astronauts would return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou‑23 spacecraft.
Al Jazeera adds that China has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years, aiming to match the United States in lunar exploration. The Chinese administration has set a target to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.
The source also notes that the United States and Russia are competing to build nuclear reactors on the Moon, with NASA announcing plans to develop such a reactor by the end of 2030 and Russia partnering with China to reach the same goal by 2036.
According to Al Jazeera, the mission symbolizes the deepening China‑Pakistan cooperation in space and reinforces China’s status as Pakistan’s largest trading partner and key foreign investor.
While the astronaut’s identity and departure date remain undisclosed, the announcement marks a historic milestone in international space collaboration, illustrating how emerging economies are joining China in the quest for lunar and beyond exploration.
