Pakistani astronaut to board Shenzhou 24 and become the first foreigner on China's space station

A Pakistani astronaut will embark on China's Shenzhou 24 mission, marking the first time a foreign national will join the country's space station, according to state media. The Pakistanis astronaut's short on-orbit flight will be followed by a return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 23, Xinhua reported, without specifying the launch date.

This mission represents the first joint flight between China and a foreign country in the nation's manned space program history, the agency said. In 2025, Pakistan and China signed an agreement for this mission. China is set to make its first crewed lunar landing by 2030, while the US is viewed as its primary space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.