Pakistani Astronaut May Visit Tiangong in 2026, Media Reports
But plans for the space mission remain officially unclear.
China’s Tiangong Space Station could host its first international visitor a year from now, although details remain unconfirmed.
Pakistani News outlets Geo TV and Pakistan Today have recently reported, on October 3rd, that the nation’s first astronaut will spend about one week aboard the Tiangong Space Station as soon as October 2026. Both outlets also reported that two candidates, a primary crew member and a backup, will travel to China this month to begin training with a crew.
Whoever is selected will reportedly be trained as a payload specialist, requiring less rigorous training for flying the Shenzhou spacecraft, to perform research on Pakistan-originating experiments going up alongside the astronaut. At the moment, around three hundred experiments have been shortlisted, with requirements being that they be novel, cost-effective, lightweight, and feasible within a week in microgravity.
The China Manned Space Agency has yet to confirm the two outlets' reporting.
What has been confirmed through official channels so far is that Pakistan’s astronaut will participate in a short-term flight after comprehensive training in China, following completion of selection work that would last less than a year. Following an official announcement at the start of the year, a small update stated that final candidate selection was underway in June.
Assuming the reported no earlier date of October 2026, the earliest mission a Pakistani astronaut may fly on is Shenzhou-23. Current missions to Tiangong last six months, which do not fit a short-term mission claim. As such, the visiting astronaut may fly up on one spacecraft (like Shenzhou-23) and return on another that was already docked (i.e. Shenzhou-22) during the crew handover period that occurs every six months, spending around a week onboard.
For Pakistan’s visit, a taikonaut may need to spend a full twelve months onboard the station, also performing a first for China’s crewed space program. China’s first spacefarer to spend a year in orbit will likely be someone with existing multi-mission experience in space.
In similar reports a few months ago, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超) mentioned that the city’s first spacefarer could fly in 2026 too. Differing from Pakistan’s astronauts, however, Hong Kong’s taikonaut was selected as part of a regular group by the China Manned Space Agency, as well as another from the neighbouring Macao Special Administrative Region. Through that selection, Hong Kong and Macao’s taikonauts have the opportunity to fly for additional missions after their first, possibly including those out to the Moon.