Pak astronaut to make brief flight to Chinese space station as payload specialist

Beijing, Nov 7 (PTI) A Pakistani astronaut will fly to the Chinese space station as a payload specialist and return after completing a short on-orbit flight, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

     On Saturday, the agency announced that a Pakistani astronaut will join the Shenzhou-24 crewed flight mission as a payload specialist without providing any further details.

     After completing a short on-orbit flight, the Pakistani astronaut will return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, it said.

     Normally, the Chinese astronauts stay in the station for about six months.

     The Pakistani astronaut's mission would be considerably shorter than the regular six-month stay of Chinese astronauts, as he is expected to undertake a brief visit as a payload specialist.

     With China's space station going to receive the first foreign visitor, the mission will mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of the country's manned space program, the agency said, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

     In February 2025, China and Pakistan signed a cooperation agreement on astronaut selection, training and participation in Chinese space station flight missions in Islamabad, officially launching astronaut selection from Pakistan.

     After a rigorous three-stage selection and assessment process, two Pakistani reserve astronauts were selected.

     After completing all training and passing the evaluation in China, one will carry out the crewed flight mission while the other will serve as a backup.

     China has also been launching satellites for Pakistan for the past few years to help its close ally.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)