First foreign astronaut to board Chinese space station

A Pakistani astronaut will join the Shenzhou-24 crewed flight mission as a payload specialist, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday. After completing a short on-orbit flight, the Pakistani astronaut will return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft.

The mission will mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's manned space program. In February 2025, China and Pakistan signed a cooperation agreement in Islamabad on the selection and training of Pakistani astronauts for flight missions aboard China's space station, officially launching the selection process.

Following a rigorous three-stage screening and evaluation process, two Pakistani candidates were selected as reserve astronauts. After passing all assessments, one of the two will be assigned to the crewed flight mission, while the other will serve as the backup astronaut.