By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first astronaut will travel to space from China on 25 November, according to planning minister Ahsan Iqbal, who said the country aims to land on the Moon by 2035.
Iqbal made the announcement over the weekend at the closing ceremony of World Space Week in his home town of Narowal, an event held with the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco).
“Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that Pakistan’s first astronaut will embark on a space mission from China’s space center on November 25, while the country aims to achieve a lunar landing by 2035,” the planning ministry said in a statement. It added that he had said cooperation with China would help Pakistan reach new heights in space exploration.
Iqbal described China as a “friendly country” supporting Pakistan’s astronauts on their journey. “With China’s cooperation, Pakistan will reach new heights in the field of space research,” he said.
Neither the minister nor the ministry named the astronaut. Two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have been training in China, and both are Pakistan Air Force pilots who have been training at the Astronaut Center of China in Beijing.
The Pakistani military’s media wing said in February that the pair had completed advanced medical, psychological and aptitude assessments in China for a human spaceflight mission. Xinhua, China’s state news agency, announced the selection of the two as the first foreign astronauts for a Chinese mission in April. It said one would fly as a payload specialist, becoming the first foreign astronaut aboard the Tiangong space station.
The China Manned Space Agency has said the Pakistani astronaut will conduct scientific experiments on behalf of Pakistan and perform standard crew duties aboard the station.
The date has not been confirmed by Beijing in the reporting available. Earlier plans pointed to a mission scheduled for October or November 2026. As of early October, the most recent reporting expected the Shenzhou-24 mission to launch around November, with a Pakistani payload specialist aboard but not yet officially confirmed. China has typically announced its crews only a day before launch.
The plan reported since spring has the visitor spending about a week on the station and coming home on Shenzhou-23 with two of that crew. That arrangement follows China’s decision to keep one Shenzhou-23 astronaut in orbit for a full year, freeing a seat for the Pakistani astronaut on the return journey.
The mission follows an Astronaut Cooperation Agreement signed by Islamabad and Beijing in February 2025, which was meant to enable Pakistan’s participation in space-based activities. The move signalled Islamabad’s broader push into human spaceflight through cooperation with China, as Beijing opens up Tiangong to international participation amid growing competition in space exploration. Tiangong has so far hosted only Chinese astronauts. The two countries have also worked together on satellite launches and lunar exploration projects.
Pakistan and China are also working on a Pakistani-built lunar rover, expected to fly on China’s Chang’e 8 mission around 2028.
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