China and Pakistan agree to fly 1st foreign astronaut to Chinese space station

For the first time, the Chinese space program will train a Pakistani astronaut, who will also be the first foreign astronaut to visit China's space station.

The agreement, called the "Cooperation Agreement on the Selection, Training of Pakistani Astronauts and Participation in China's Space Station Flight Mission," was signed by officials from the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSE) and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) on Feb. 28.

"The signing of this agreement marks the first time that the Chinese government will select and train astronauts for foreign countries, and the Chinese space station will welcome the first foreign astronaut to visit," the CMSE wrote in a statement (Translated with Google).

The signing ceremony took place in the Prime Minister's Office of Pakistan in the country's capital, Islamabad. The agreement was signed by Lin Xiqiang, CMSE deputy director, and Mohammad Yousaf Khan, SUPARCO chairman.

The next step will be the selection work that will take about a year, according to the statement. The Pakistani astronauts will then travel to China for training. Afterwards, Pakistani and Chinese astronauts will enter the Tiangong space station together and undertake a series of short-duration missions over the next few years, according to CMSE officials.

China's Tiangong Space Station has been in operation since 2022. The CMSE launched the three modules that make up the space station, then built it in low Earth orbit. The space station orbits earth between 217 and 280 miles (340 to 450 kilometers) altitude.

The first crew on the Tiangong station was Shenzhou 12. They launched on a mission to the space station in 2021, when the core module was the only one in orbit. In December of last year, Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of the Shenzhou 19 mission, spent a record-breaking nine hours on a space walk outside of the Tiangong space station, according to CMSA.