Culture & Entertainment · Singapore Bureau
Pakistani astronaut to fly on Chinese space station mission
Pakistan will send its first astronaut to China's orbiting space station as part of the Shenzhou-24 crewed mission later this year. The mission underscores deepening space cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad under China's Belt and Road Initiative.
LSN Singapore ·
A Pakistani astronaut will become the first citizen of the nation to visit China's space station, according to an announcement by Chinese state media on Saturday. The astronaut will travel aboard the Shenzhou-24 spacecraft as part of an expanded cooperative arrangement between the two countries' space programmes.
The mission represents a significant milestone in Pakistan's space exploration efforts and marks another chapter in the growing strategic partnership between Islamabad and Beijing. The collaboration aligns with China's broader Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to strengthen economic and diplomatic ties across Asia and beyond.
China has been progressively expanding its space station operations since the facility became fully operational in 2022. The orbiting outpost has already hosted visiting astronauts and cosmonauts from multiple nations, with plans for additional international missions scheduled throughout the year.
The Shenzhou-24 mission follows China's established pattern of conducting regular crewed spaceflights to rotate station personnel and conduct scientific experiments. Details regarding the specific timing of the launch and the identity of the Pakistani astronaut were not immediately disclosed.