Pakistan's first astronaut: what is confirmed and what is not

Two Pakistani pilots, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, are training in China for a mission that is expected to make one of them the first foreign astronaut to visit China's Tiangong space station. Only one will fly. As of 29 September 2026, neither China nor Pakistan has publicly announced which candidate has been selected for the mission or an exact launch date.

SUPARCO officials told Reuters that the final selection is expected in mid-to-late October 2026. In Reuters' 28 September report, China's space agency had not responded to a request for comment on the selection process.

What has been officially confirmed

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced in April 2026 that Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud had been selected as the first foreign astronaut candidates for China's space mission training. According to Xinhua's report of the CMSA announcement, both were selected as reserve astronauts and one will participate in a space mission as a payload specialist after completing the required training and evaluations.

That astronaut would become the first foreign astronaut aboard the Tiangong space station. Separately, SUPARCO said in April that Pakistan's first participation in a China Space Station mission was planned for late 2026, according to Dawn.

The publicly confirmed schedule remains broad. Earlier reporting in February 2026 cited October or November as the expected period, while SUPARCO later described the mission as planned for late 2026. No exact launch date has been publicly announced by CMSA or SUPARCO.

How the mission developed

Pakistan and China formally began the astronaut selection and training programme after SUPARCO and CMSA signed a cooperation agreement in Islamabad in February 2025. CMSA later said the selection involved three rounds of screening before Ali and Daud were chosen for training.

Amer Gilani, who oversees human spaceflight cooperation at SUPARCO, told Reuters that the mission was conceived in 2019. The formal astronaut cooperation agreement between Pakistan and China was signed in 2025.

What will the Pakistani astronaut do?

The selected Pakistani astronaut is expected to serve as a payload specialist rather than command or pilot the Chinese spacecraft. SUPARCO official Uzair Ansari told Reuters that the astronaut's main role will be to conduct Pakistan's scientific experiments aboard Tiangong.

CMSA has also described the Pakistani participant as a payload specialist who will conduct scientific experiments during a short-duration mission aboard the station.

Who are the two candidates?

The two publicly named candidates are Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud. CMSA said they passed multiple rounds of selection before being chosen for training in China.

Reuters reported that the two were selected from roughly 20 finalists drawn from a wider pool of pilots and scientists. Ansari said pilots were preferred because relatively few scientists had experience with the high g-forces involved in human spaceflight.

Their training in Beijing includes Mandarin, spacecraft systems and preparation for the physical conditions of launch and weightlessness. Gilani told Reuters that the astronaut ultimately selected for the mission is expected to remain in China until the flight.

What experiments will Pakistan send?

Reuters reported that more than 300 proposals were submitted by universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, with four experiments selected for the mission in cooperation with Chinese institutions.

According to Reuters, the selected work includes biotechnology research related to challenges such as food insecurity and climate change. SUPARCO's April statement described Pakistan's planned microgravity research more broadly, including material science, fluid physics, life science and biotechnology.

SUPARCO has not publicly released a detailed final payload manifest. The broader scientific fields announced in April and the four experiments described to Reuters should therefore not be treated as interchangeable lists.

How long could the mission last?

Reuters reported that the Pakistani astronaut's stay aboard Tiangong is expected to last about one week, substantially shorter than the long-duration missions normally flown by China's station crews.

China launched Shenzhou-23 on 24 May 2026. CMSA said one member of that crew would conduct a year-long stay experiment, while the other crew members would follow the station's normal rotation pattern.

Space.com has reported that the Pakistani astronaut is expected to travel on the Shenzhou-24 mission and later return with members of the Shenzhou-23 crew. However, the official CMSA material reviewed by Origin Pakistan does not publicly confirm the complete spacecraft and crew-exchange arrangement. The Shenzhou-24 connection should therefore be treated as reported mission planning rather than a confirmed final flight schedule.

What remains unconfirmed?

• Whether Muhammad Zeeshan Ali or Khurram Daud will fly.
• The exact launch date.
• The final spacecraft and crew-exchange arrangement for the Pakistani astronaut.
• The complete public list and technical details of Pakistan's experiments.
• Whether the expected mid-to-late October selection timetable will change.

For now, the clearest confirmed position is that both Pakistani candidates are undergoing training in China, one is expected to be selected as a payload specialist, and Pakistan and China are working toward a short-duration Tiangong mission planned for late 2026. The final astronaut and exact flight schedule have not yet been publicly announced.

Asked about possible missions beyond the Tiangong flight, Gilani told Reuters that there was no official commitment or discussion about another Pakistani human spaceflight, including a lunar mission. He said future steps would depend on the outcome of the first mission.