HONG KONG/BEIJING — Chinese state media reported on Saturday that a Pakistani astronaut will join China’s space station on this year’s Shenzhou‑24 mission, as part of bilateral cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The inaugural foreign visitor to the space station will serve as a payload specialist on the mission, according to broadcaster CCTV, which cited the China Manned Space Agency.
China has not yet disclosed the astronaut’s identity, but pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have undergone months of training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing, a Pakistani space agency official told Reuters in September.
Beijing has not announced a launch date for the mission.
CCTV said the astronaut will complete a short‑term in‑orbit flight and return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou‑23 spacecraft.
This will be the first joint spaceflight in China’s manned space program history that includes both Chinese and foreign astronauts, reflecting Beijing’s space diplomacy efforts.
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