TL;DR: Pakistan is about to select one of two pilots training in Beijing to become the first foreign visitor to China's Tiangong station on a week-long science mission.

KARACHI — Two Pakistani pilots are nearing the final cut for a short flight to China's orbital outpost, a decision that would place a Pakistani citizen in space for the first time and give China its first foreign crew member in orbit, according to Reuters.

The candidates, Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have spent months at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center in Beijing. Their preparation blends Mandarin study, spacecraft-systems classes, weightlessness adaptation, centrifuge runs, and practice with eating, sleeping and hardware repair without gravity.

A final choice between the two is anticipated in mid-to-late October, said Amer Gilani, the official who oversees human spaceflight cooperation at Pakistan's national space agency, SUPARCO. China has not publicly named the winner or announced a launch date.

The official selected will remain in China through liftoff rather than traveling home first. After landing and a recovery interval, that person will return to Pakistan, Gilani told Reuters in an interview.

A mission first sketched in 2019

The flight traces to an understanding reached by Islamabad and Beijing in 2019, Gilani said. That early concept has since grown into a broader space relationship tied to the Belt and Road Initiative.

That wider partnership already covers Pakistani satellites lifted by Chinese rockets, a shared satellite-navigation effort, and a Pakistani-built rover assigned to China's Chang'e 8 lunar mission around 2028, according to Reuters.

Gilani spoke to Reuters in Lahore on September 9, while SUPARCO artificial-intelligence director Uzair Ansari discussed the program from Karachi. Their remarks were described as the first detailed account SUPARCO has given to foreign media since the two pilots were chosen and sent to China.

China's space agency did not reply to a request for comment on the selection process.

Why pilots won the seats

Pakistan began with a mixed pool of pilots and scientists. About 20 finalists emerged before the field narrowed to Ali and Daud, according to Geo TV.

Screening weighed medical fitness and psychological resilience. Tolerance for acceleration loads became a decisive factor, Ansari said.

Scientists rarely have regular exposure to severe acceleration, Ansari explained, while aviators accustomed to high-speed flight already understand such stresses. That background helped the two pilots advance over laboratory researchers.

Training for language, gravity and liftoff

Language work is central because the Pakistani crew member will train under Chinese instructors, ride a Chinese-built spacecraft, depart from a Chinese launch site and use Mandarin while in orbit.

Instruction therefore pairs intensive Mandarin lessons with technical study of spacecraft systems, Gilani said. Physical conditioning addresses two opposite challenges: the near-weightlessness of orbit and the heavy loads felt during ascent.

Once aboard, the visitor will not be responsible for piloting the vehicle. The assignment is focused on operating experiments and adjusting to station life during a brief stay.

Four Pakistani biotechnology experiments

The Pakistani flyer will serve under the title of payload specialist, meaning the principal duty is execution of national research rather than control of the spacecraft, Ansari said.

SUPARCO gathered more than 300 research ideas from universities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad during a year-long solicitation. Chinese research institutes then chose four biotechnology investigations for the flight, Gilani said.

Those four studies are intended to contribute to work on food insecurity and climate change. Each investigation is assembled and pre-tested inside SUPARCO laboratories before Chinese engineers review and approve it for flight, a process Ansari described as an unusual international validation for Pakistani-built technology.

The Pakistani complement is small compared with Tiangong's overall research record. The station has hosted more than 180 experiments, yielding over 500 research papers and 150 patents, Ansari said.

Inside a 77-ton orbital laboratory

Tiangong consists of three linked modules named Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian. Together they weigh about 77 metric tons, Gilani said.

The complex holds roughly 14 experiment racks devoted to life sciences, materials research, fluid physics, combustion and radiation exposure. Some payload sites sit outside the pressurized volume, exposing materials and biotechnology samples directly to space, he said.

That infrastructure supports long professional expeditions of roughly six months for Chinese career crews. By contrast, the Pakistani visit is planned to last about one week.

Pakistan presently has no independent launch vehicle or crewed spacecraft, so every element of transport, training and operations depends on Chinese systems.

Return plan tied to Chinese crew rotation

The return arrangement is linked to a Chinese crew that reached the station in May, according to Reuters.

The Pakistani astronaut is expected to come home with two members of that crew. The third member of the Chinese team is expected to remain aboard for a year to support research on long-duration human physiology in space.

The schedule underscores the short-visit character of the flight. The Pakistani specialist will join ongoing station activity, complete the four national experiments, and then depart within the established crew-rotation sequence rather than as part of a six-month expedition.

First foreign guest for China

Since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's flight in 1961, citizens of about 50 countries have reached space. Yet only Russia, the United States and China have built and launched their own crewed spacecraft.

China's invitation to Pakistan would mark the first occasion on which China transports a foreign astronaut, according to Reuters.

For the United States, the development matters because it signals Beijing's growing use of crewed flight as a partnership tool. Washington works through the International Space Station and the Artemis accords, while Beijing is now assembling its own circle of flight partners around Tiangong.

Gilani cautioned against reading a lunar-crew commitment into the present flight. Asked whether Islamabad had obtained any promise of a future Pakistani trip to the moon, he said there was no official commitment or discussion on that subject. He added that later steps would depend on the result of the maiden mission.

Rover work continues toward 2028

A separate cooperative project is a Pakistani-built lunar rover intended to fly on Chang'e 8 around 2028.

The rover will rely on AI-based stereo imaging to recognize obstacles, estimate depth and select its own route over the lunar surface because controllers on Earth cannot steer it moment by moment, Ansari said.

That autonomy requirement makes navigation software and onboard perception especially important. The system must interpret terrain, judge distances and plan safe paths without waiting for ground commands.

Ansari called the crewed flight a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Pakistani scientists. Whether measured in laboratory papers, flight hardware or astronaut experience, he suggested, the immediate value lies in giving Pakistani researchers direct access to orbit through an international platform.

What to watch next

The next confirmed milestone is the selection announcement anticipated in mid-to-late October. That call will identify whether Ali or Daud flies as payload specialist.

No launch date has been disclosed by China. The sequence described so far points to continued training in Beijing, direct transfer to launch preparations, a week-long research stay, and return alongside two Chinese crew members.

For American readers tracking orbital access, satellite cooperation and lunar exploration, the episode links three timelines: an imminent crew decision, a near-term station visit, and a 2028 lunar-rover flight that extends Pakistan-China cooperation from low Earth orbit toward the moon.

Sources referenced