Shenzhou 24 to carry Pakistani astronaut, first foreign national on China’s space station

Chinese state media reported on Saturday that Shenzhou 24 will carry a Pakistani astronaut, making him the first foreign national to visit China’s space station.

Xinhua, China‘s official news agency, carried the report. The China Manned Space Agency called Shenzhou 24 the first joint mission in China’s human-spaceflight program to include Chinese and foreign astronauts, a characterization made through Xinhua. ABC News relayed the Xinhua report containing the agency’s statement about the crew assignment. No previous mission in the country’s human-spaceflight history has carried a foreign crew member.

Xinhua reported that the visitor would make a short orbital flight and come back to Earth on Shenzhou 23, with no launch date specified. State media characterized the mission duration as short, without giving details. Al Jazeera reported an end-of-year timeframe for the mission, an estimate that did not come from Xinhua or the China Manned Space Agency.

The astronaut will serve as a payload specialist, a role centered on experiments rather than piloting the spacecraft, according to Al Jazeera. China has not identified which candidate will fly, and the astronaut’s name, launch date and duration of the visit remain unannounced. State media called the flight short without giving details. Al Jazeera also reported that no launch date has been announced.

Xinhua reported earlier this year that Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud began training alongside Chinese counterparts as candidates for a short-term spaceflight. The plan called for selecting one of them as a payload specialist. The training focused on hands-on operational skills and included intensive Chinese language lessons, with the pair spending months at the Beijing facility that trains Chinese astronauts.

Al Jazeera said the two candidates spent months at the Beijing center that prepares Chinese astronauts. China has not identified which candidate will fly, according to Al Jazeera. The mission stems from a February 2025 agreement between China and Pakistan that covers the astronaut flight. According to Al Jazeera, the deal established a program led by China’s government to prepare Pakistani astronauts for flight.

Al Jazeera characterized the relationship as a longstanding strategic and diplomatic partnership, noting that China is Pakistan’s top trading partner and a major foreign investor. Chinese state media linked the mission to broader bilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Al Jazeera. The flight would place Pakistan’s first citizen on a crewed space-station flight operated with its largest trading partner, Al Jazeera said. It would mark the first time a Pakistani citizen joins a crewed mission to a space station.

What state media has not disclosed includes the astronaut’s name, the launch date and the duration of the visit. Al Jazeera reported that China has not chosen between Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud. Whether other nations are discussing astronaut flights to China’s station is not addressed by the sources. Around Prague said it had no information on negotiations with other nations for station visits.

China’s space program has received heavy investment in recent years as the country closes the gap with the United States, Al Jazeera noted. Xinhua identified the United States as China’s primary space competitor and said China is working toward a first crewed lunar landing in 2030. The same report gave NASA’s target date for a lunar landing as 2028.

Separately, Al Jazeera reported that the China National Space Administration will deploy Pakistan’s first lunar rover, Jinnah-1. The rover weighs 35 kilograms (77 pounds) and carries instruments to study plasma behavior, radiation and lunar soil makeup. Al Jazeera said the rover will carry scientific instruments for studying the lunar environment, and the report identified Jinnah-1 as Pakistan’s first lunar rover.