In a historic milestone for the country’s space programme, Pakistan’s first astronaut will undertake a space mission on November 25.
The astronaut will travel from China as a payload specialist and will run Pakistan’s science experiments rather than fly the ship.
The mission will use a Chinese-built spacecraft launched from a Chinese site. The astronaut will have trained with Chinese instructors and will communicate in Mandarin while in orbit.
Who will be Pakistan’s first astronaut to travel to space?
The astronaut will be one of two candidates, pilots Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, who were selected by China this year for its human spaceflight programme. Currently, both have been undergoing intensive training in Beijing.
According to Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, a final decision on the astronaut selection is expected to be announced this month
Recently, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced that one of the two candidates would travel to space in November. He also said Pakistan aimed to achieve a moon landing by 2035, expressing hope that the country’s cooperation with China would help it reach new heights in space exploration.
It is pertinent to mention that Namira Salim became the first Pakistani to travel to space in 2023 aboard Virgin Galactic’s commercial spaceflight. However, Pakistan’s first astronaut on a government-backed mission is expected to travel to space in November.