Pakistani astronaut to join China space station’s Shenzhou-24 mission

A Pakistani astronaut will join China’s space station on ​this year’s Shenzhou-24 mission, as part of ‌bilateral cooperation under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese state media reported on Saturday.

The ​first foreign visitor to the ​space station will participate as a payload ⁠specialist in the mission, broadcaster ​CCTV reported, citing the China Manned Space ​Agency.

China has not identified the astronaut, but pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have spent months ​training at the China Astronaut Research ​and Training Centre in Beijing for a mission, ‌a ⁠Pakistani space agency official told Reuters in September.

Beijing has not announced the date of the mission.

CCTV said that after ​completing a ​short-term ⁠in-orbit flight, the astronaut will return to Earth aboard the ​Shenzhou-23 spacecraft.

This marks the first ​joint ⁠spaceflight featuring both Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China’s manned ⁠space ​program, under Beijing’s space diplomacy.