The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) agency said on Saturday that the Astronauts Centre of China (ACC) has picked two applicants for Pakistan’s Human Spaceflight Program.
A collaboration agreement was signed in February 2025 between the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) and Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco). The agreement called for two Pakistanis to train in China, one of whom accompant a mission on Beijing’s Tiangong space station.
Suparco “achieved yet another significant milestone in Pakistan’s Human Spaceflight Programme with the successful completion of the secondary phase of astronaut candidates’ selection”, according to a press release from the initial screening process in Pakistan, the release said.
In compliance with international human spaceflight standards, the candidates underwent thorough medical, psychological, and aptitude evaluations at the Astronauts Centre of China (ACC) before being shortlisted following an initial screening process in Pakistan, the release said.
The two shortlisted applicants will spend six months at ACC undergoing “advanced astronaut training” in accordance with the bilateral agreement. The news sattement further stated that one candidate will be chosen for a spaceflight mission on the Tiangong space station in October or November 2026 after completing the training.
The bilateral “Astronaut Cooperation Agreement” signed in February 2025″ under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose vision and support were instrumental in enabling Pakistan’s participation in human spaceflight” served as the foundation for the collaboration, according to the ISPR.
The ISPR noted, “The Government of the People’s Republic of China, which chose Pakistan as its first international partner in its astronaut program, also strongly supports this historic initiative”.
PM Shehbaz had started that Islamabad would launch its first manned space mission to China’s space station in partnership with Beijing during the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement in February 2025.
Later, the CMSA spokesperson Lin Xiqiang, the chosen astronaut would carry out routine crew tasks on board the station in addition to conducting scientific research on Pakistan’s behalf.
He mentioned that the selection proces would be the same as that used for Chinese astronauts, with three stages: preliminary, secondary and final.
Since the United States forbade NASA from working with Chinese space agencies in 2011, China has been prevented from participating in the International Space Station. Since then, Beijing has worked to develop its space program by forming alliances with nations like Pakistan.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
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