Pakistan has bought a ticket to the Chinese habitat in space. Reports say China will train two Pakistani candidates for their space mission to Tiangong space station next year. In an October 30 press conference, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that it will select two astronauts from a pool of candidates and prepare them as payload specialists for a short-duration mission.
Shenzhou 20 astronauts finish tasks and hand over to Shenzhou 21 crew for China’s space station, set to return to Earth on November 5. Source:https://t.co/HvBoI0bW6Z pic.twitter.com/qNTcY9z2wc
— CNSA Watcher (@CNSAWatcher) November 5, 2025
According to China’s state-owned network CGTN, the selection process of the candidates reportedly began in February this year after signing of an official agreement between the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSE) and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).
The ongoing selection process, per CGTN, is currently in its first (preliminary) stage in Pakistan. The second two stages of selection will take place in China where the Pakistanis will train with Chinese astronauts. If everything remains on track, the mission is likely to launch in six months from now in 2026.
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The Pakistani astronaut is likely to be a part of the Shenzhou 22 crew alongside two Chinese counterparts. Shenzhou 22 will replace the Shenzhou 21 astronauts who launched on October 31 for their six-month-long stay at Tiangong. The launch will be historic as no Pakistani astronaut has ever been to space. Although, Pakistani national Namira Salim was part of Virgin Galactic’s mission in 2023 but it was a suborbital flight, reaching an altitude of 85 kilometres. The internationally recognised boundary of space called the Kármán Line begins at 100 kilometres.
China is currently the only country with its own space station. Tiangong’s first module was launched on April 29, 2021 followed by another two in July 24 and October 31, 2022.
This is not the first major collaboration between the two nations in space. On October 19, China launched Pakistan’s Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-2) along with two of its own satellites aboard the Lijian-1 Y8 carrier rocket. China’s Global Times reported that the satellite was built by SUPARCO and will be used for urban planning, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture and disaster management. In 2024, China launched Pakistan’s first ever CubeSat during the launch of its own Chang’e-6 lunar mission.
