Stories
China's Space Diplomacy Propels Pakistani Astronaut Towards Historic Orbit
- •Two Pakistani pilots are undergoing intensive training in China, including Mandarin lessons and centrifuge drills, for a historic mission to the Tiangong space station.
- •This mission marks Pakistan's first human spaceflight and is part of broader space cooperation with China, which includes joint satellite projects and a Pakistani-built lunar rover for China's Chang'e 8 mission.
- •A final decision on which pilot, Zeeshan Ali or Khurram Daud, will fly is expected in mid-to-late October, with the chosen astronaut serving as a "payload specialist" to conduct Pakistani science experiments.
- •The selected astronaut will fly on a Chinese-built spacecraft, trained by Chinese instructors, and communicate in Mandarin, highlighting Pakistan's reliance on Beijing for its crewed space ambitions.
- •The mission offers a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" for Pakistani scientists, with four biotechnology experiments selected to address food insecurity and climate change.
Key Questions Answered
A final astronaut selection decision is expected in mid-to-late October. Two Pakistani pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have been training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing for this mission.
Once in space, the selected pilot will carry the title of payload specialist, which means their primary job in orbit is running Pakistan's science experiments rather than flying the ship. They will conduct four experiments selected by Chinese institutes, including biotechnology experiments aimed at helping combat food insecurity and climate change.
The stay in space will be about a week, which is a fraction of the roughly six-month rotations of career Chinese crew members. The astronaut is due to return to Earth with two members of a Chinese crew who arrived at the space station in May.
