China has confirmed that a Pakistani astronaut will travel to the Tiangong space station aboard the Shenzhou-24 mission, becoming the first foreign visitor to the Chinese station. The China Manned Space Agency announced the mission on Saturday, 7 November 2026, describing it as the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China’s manned space programme.
China confirms the mission — a first for Tiangong
The announcement, carried by the state news agency Xinhua and broadcaster CCTV, names the Shenzhou-24 spacecraft as the one that will carry the Pakistani crew member into orbit. The astronaut will fly as a payload specialist, spend a short time aboard Tiangong, and return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, which is already docked at the station. The agency also unveiled the official emblem for the Shenzhou-24 mission on the same day. For China, the flight is a milestone in its space diplomacy: Tiangong has so far hosted only Chinese crews, and this will be the first time a foreign astronaut visits the station. For Pakistan, it is the moment a plan announced more than a year ago turns into a named mission with a spacecraft attached.
Who will fly — Zeeshan Ali or Khurram Daud
Two Pakistani pilots have been training for the flight: Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud. Both were selected as reserve astronauts after a three-stage selection and assessment process run with the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and both have been training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing alongside Chinese astronauts since April 2026. One of them will receive the flight assignment and the other will serve as the backup. The CMSA has not yet said which of the two will fly. Under China’s usual practice, the crew of a Shenzhou mission is only named the day before launch, so the final name will come at the last moment.
What the payload specialist will do in orbit
The Pakistani astronaut will fly as a payload specialist — the crew role focused on scientific experiments and the equipment carried into space. On Tiangong, that means carrying out Pakistan’s own scientific experiments and space application tasks during the short stay. Mission plans reported earlier describe a visit of about a week, after which the astronaut returns aboard Shenzhou-23. The experiments have not been publicly detailed, and neither has the full schedule of the stay. What is confirmed is the shape of the mission: up on Shenzhou-24, a short working visit, and home on Shenzhou-23.
How Pakistan got here — the 2025 agreement
The flight follows a cooperation agreement signed in Islamabad on 28 February 2025 between the CMSA and SUPARCO, covering the selection and training of Pakistani astronauts and their participation in Chinese space station missions. That agreement formally launched the selection process that produced the two candidates. In October, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced that Pakistan’s first astronaut would fly in November, and Saturday’s announcement from Beijing is the first formal confirmation from the Chinese side, with the spacecraft and the return plan now named. The mission sits within a wider stretch of Pakistan–China space cooperation, from SUPARCO’s work with international partners to Pakistani students winning honours at international space competitions.
When will it launch?
The one fact the CMSA has not given is the date. No launch day has been formally announced. Earlier reports, citing the Planning Minister’s October announcement, pointed to 25 November 2026, and mission listings have carried the same planned date — but the agency itself has confirmed only the mission assignment, not the calendar. The crew announcement, which comes the day before the flight, will be the reliable signal that the launch is imminent, and the date can still move. Until then, what is certain is the mission itself: a Pakistani astronaut, a seat on Shenzhou-24, and a place in history as the first foreign visitor to Tiangong.
If the flight goes ahead as planned, Pakistan will join the small group of countries whose citizens have visited a space station — and Tiangong will welcome its first guest from outside China.
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