Pakistan’s first astronaut is scheduled to travel on a space mission from China on November 25, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced on October 18, according to a planning ministry
Pakistan First Astronaut Mission 2026: What Has Been Announced?
Ahsan Iqbal said on Sunday, October 18, that Pakistan’s first astronaut would embark on a space mission from a Chinese space centre on November 25, while the country aims to achieve a lunar landing by 2035, according to a planning ministry statement reported by Arab News. The statement did not name the astronaut.The astronaut will be selected from two pilots, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, whom China shortlisted in April, according to . Reuters reported in late September that the two had spent months training in Beijing and that SUPARCO expected a final selection decision in mid-to-late October. As of the latest reporting reviewed, the date had been announced publicly, but a named final selection had not.
Who Will Be Pakistan’s First Astronaut in 2026?
The two candidates are Zeeshan Ali (also reported as Muhammad Zeeshan Ali) and Khurram Daud, both pilots. They have been training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre in Beijing. According to Reuters, the training includes Mandarin study, centrifuge drills, spacecraft systems and learning to eat, sleep and repair equipment while weightless.
Reuters also reported that the two beat roughly 20 finalists drawn from an initial Pakistani pool of pilots and scientists, who were screened for medical fitness, psychological resilience and tolerance for g-forces.
What Will the Pakistani Astronaut Do in Space?
The selected astronaut is expected to serve as a “payload specialist”, a role that involves running Pakistan’s science experiments in orbit rather than flying the spacecraft. According to Reuters, Chinese institutes selected four biotechnology experiments for this flight from more than 300 proposals that SUPARCO collected from universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The experiments are intended to help address food insecurity and climate change.
Reuters reported that every experiment is built and pre-tested in SUPARCO’s own laboratories before Chinese engineers sign off. The astronaut will fly aboard a Chinese-built spacecraft, launched from a Chinese site, trained by Chinese instructors and communicating in Mandarin in orbit. The stay is expected to last about a week, a fraction of the roughly six-month rotations of career Chinese crew members, according to Reuters.
What Is China’s Tiangong Space Station?
Tiangong is China’s crewed space station in low Earth orbit. According to SUPARCO’s Amer Gilani, quoted by Reuters, its three modules, Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian, weigh about 77 metric tonnes combined and house roughly 14 experiment racks spanning life sciences, materials, fluid physics, combustion and radiation exposure.
The planned mission is significant because it would be the first time China transports a foreign astronaut, according to Reuters. Reuters also noted that Pakistan has no independent launch vehicle or crewed spacecraft of its own, so the mission depends on Chinese spacecraft, launch facilities, training and operational support.
Is This Pakistan’s First Person in Space?
The description needs context. The upcoming mission is being presented as Pakistan’s first astronaut mission under its human spaceflight cooperation with China, with the participant expected to work aboard China’s space station. It should not be confused with commercial spaceflight. Pakistani adventurer Namira Salim travelled on Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 04 commercial flight on October 6, 2023
