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Pakistani astronaut set to become 1st international visitor to China's Tiangong space station this month

An astronaut from Pakistan is set to launch on China's Shenzhou 24 mission in the coming weeks and become the first-ever international visitor to the Tiangong space station.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•1 min read•Updated November 12, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC
Key points
  • One of the three Shenzhou 23 astronauts, who arrived at Tiangong on May 24, will stay aboard and complete China's first-ever year-long stay in orbit, while the Pakistani astronaut will take their seat aboard Shenzhou 23 to return home.
  • During his stay in space, the Pakistani astronaut will be responsible for four research payloads selected from more than 300 proposals, according to Pakistan's space agency, SUPARCO.
  • The Shenzhou 23 astronauts currently aboard Tiangong are closing in on 180 days in orbit, nearing an end to their six months in space.

While the Chinese astronauts will be starting a six-month-long stay in space, the Pakistani astronaut will spend roughly a week in orbit aboard Tiangong during a standard crew rotation period.

Additional details
  • A pair of astronaut candidates from Pakistan have been training at the Astronaut Centre of China in Beijing, following an agreement reached between China and Pakistan in Islamabad in February 2025 and a subsequent selection process.
  • The partnership between the two countries has already produced Chinese-launched Pakistani satellites, including a lunar cubesat, and a Pakistani-built rover due to fly on the Chang'e-8 lunar landing mission.
  • The identities of the crew for China's human spaceflight missions are typically closely guarded, and will only be revealed in a press conference a day ahead of launch.
  • He will then return to Earth aboard the departing Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, along with two Chinese astronauts who will have completed a six-month-long stay in orbit.
  • The arrangement means changes to China's usual "three in, three out" Tiangong crew rotations.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Space.comNovember 12, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC →

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