Pakistan to Send Astronaut to China's Tiangong

After a March 2025 cooperation agreement between the China Manned Space Agency and Pakistan’s SUPARCO, China will send a Pakistani astronaut on a short-duration mission to its Tiangong space station. CMSA said two Pakistani candidates began selection in April and will train alongside Chinese taikonauts at the Astronaut Centre of China, with one to be chosen as a payload specialist. Finalists are expected to train about six months to a year, and a flight could occur as early as October 2026. The mission will carry Pakistan-designed scientific experiments in biology, medicine, materials science, fluid mechanics, space radiation and microgravity research. The announcement is part of China’s broader expansion of Tiangong operations and international cooperation while Beijing continues tests for lunar hardware and pursues a crewed Moon landing around 2030. Pakistan’s participation underscores deepening strategic and scientific ties and further opens Tiangong to regional partners.