Pakistan’s long-held ambition of sending its first astronaut into space is moving closer to reality, with China expected to select one of two Pakistani pilots for a future mission aboard the Tiangong space station.
Pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have spent months undergoing intensive training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre in Beijing, preparing for a mission conceived by Pakistan and China in 2019.
Amer Gilani, who oversees human spaceflight cooperation at Pakistan’s space agency Suparco, told Reuters that a final decision on which pilot will fly is expected in mid-to-late October.
China has not yet announced which of the two candidates will be selected or provided a launch date.
Pilots undergo intensive training
The two candidates were selected from around 20 finalists drawn from an initial pool of Pakistani pilots and scientists.
Their training includes Mandarin language instruction, spacecraft systems, centrifuge exercises and preparation for the physical effects of launch and microgravity.
Suparco’s director of artificial intelligence, Uzair Ansari, said the candidates’ experience in high-speed flying was an important factor because tolerance to high g-forces is difficult to find among scientists without aviation backgrounds.
Whoever is selected will remain in China until the mission. Gilani said the astronaut will travel directly into space from China and return to Pakistan after completing recovery following the mission.
China’s space agency did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the selection process.
Pakistani astronaut to conduct experiments
The selected pilot will serve as a “payload specialist”, meaning the astronaut’s primary responsibility will be to conduct Pakistani scientific experiments rather than operate the spacecraft.
Suparco received more than 300 research proposals from universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad during a year-long campaign. Chinese institutes selected four experiments for the mission, focusing on biotechnology with potential applications related to food security and climate change.
According to Ansari, the experiments are being developed and tested in Suparco laboratories before being approved by Chinese engineers.
The payload will be relatively small compared with the Tiangong station’s broader scientific programme. The station has hosted more than 180 experiments and generated hundreds of research papers and patents.
Tiangong’s three modules, Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian, have a combined mass of around 77 metric tonnes and accommodate numerous experimental facilities covering areas including life sciences, materials, fluid physics, combustion and radiation exposure.
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Mission highlights Pakistan-China space cooperation
The planned astronaut mission is part of expanding cooperation between Pakistan and China in space technology.
The partnership has already included Chinese-launched Pakistani satellites, a joint satellite-navigation system and a Pakistani-built rover scheduled to travel on China’s Chang’e 8 lunar mission around 2028.
Pakistan currently does not have an independent launch vehicle or crewed spacecraft, meaning the planned astronaut mission will rely heavily on Chinese technology and infrastructure.
The Pakistani astronaut is expected to spend about a week aboard Tiangong, significantly shorter than the roughly six-month rotations typically undertaken by Chinese astronauts.
The mission would also be a notable milestone internationally. Since Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space in 1961, citizens of around 50 countries have travelled into space, but only Russia, the United States and China have independently launched crewed spacecraft.
China’s planned mission for a Pakistani astronaut would mark the first time Beijing has carried a foreign astronaut to its space station.
No commitment yet for a lunar astronaut
Asked whether Pakistan had secured an agreement for an astronaut to travel to the Moon through its cooperation with China, Gilani said there was currently no official commitment or discussion on such a mission.
He said future cooperation would depend in part on the outcome of Pakistan’s first human spaceflight mission.
Separately, Pakistan’s lunar rover is expected to fly on China’s Chang’e 8 mission around 2028. The rover will use AI-based stereo imaging to identify obstacles, estimate depth and plan its route across the lunar surface because real-time control from Earth is not possible.
For Pakistani scientists involved in the programme, the planned human spaceflight represents a significant step in the country’s growing space cooperation with China.
