Daily Times

Pakistan has initiated the process to select astronauts for its inaugural manned mission to China’s space station, marking a significant step towards Islamabad’s ambitions in human spaceflight.

“We have already started the selection of astronauts in Pakistan, which will culminate by the last quarter of 2025,” Amer Ahsan Gilani, secretary of the Pakistan Human Spaceflight Cooperation at the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), told Anadolu.

The astronaut selection process follows an agreement signed last month between the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) and SUPARCO. Under this landmark agreement, a Pakistani astronaut will become the first foreign visitor to China’s Tiangong Space Station (CSS).

Last May, Pakistan launched its first lunar satellite, ICUBE-Q, into the moon’s orbit aboard Beijing’s historic Chang’e 6 mission, which made China the first country to successfully collect samples from the lunar far side.

Under the latest agreement, two Pakistani astronauts will undergo specialized training at the Astronaut Center of China, with one selected to serve as a scientific payload specialist conducting research aboard CSS.

“Being a space-faring nation, Pakistan envisions itself as a fast-developing country in space technology encompassing all areas including communication, remote sensing, navigation, and scientific exploration in deep space and manned missions,” Gilani said.

He emphasized that China’s selection of a Pakistani astronaut as the first foreign astronaut on the CSS mission symbolizes the deep bilateral relationship between the two nations.

This achievement would enhance cooperation between the longtime allies, particularly in sophisticated aerospace technologies, he added.

According to the current timeline, Pakistan’s first astronaut will undertake their spaceflight after completing training by the end of 2026, with the specific mission aligned with the CSS crew rotation schedule.

Not in a space race

Gilani asserted that Pakistan’s space program aims primarily to fulfill national requirements and is not driven by competition with neighboring countries, including India.

“Pakistan’s space program is in line with our national requirements; we are not in a race with contemporary countries,” he said.

India has recently achieved notable space milestones, making history in August 2023 as it became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole, and the fourth nation ever to reach the moon.

India is also planning a fifth lunar mission in collaboration with Japan.

In contrast, Pakistan is advancing its space ambitions through collaborative lunar exploration missions with China.

The country is participating in China’s International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program and various projects involving communication and remote sensing satellites, along with indigenous satellite launches into Earth orbit.

Barriers to space exploration

Pakistan’s space program was launched in 1961, and its notable achievements include launching Badr-1, the country’s first indigenous artificial digital communications satellite, in July 1990, followed by Badr-2, Pakistan’s first Earth observation satellite, in December 2001.

Other significant milestones include successful launches of sounding rockets, indigenous customer-furnished items (CFIs) for communications satellite Paksat-1R in 2011, the locally developed Earth observation satellite Paktes-1A in 2018, and additional CFIs for Paksat-MM1 in 2024.

In January 2025, China also launched Pakistan’s indigenously developed Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite – PRSC-EO1 – into space.

Despite these limited successes, Gilani acknowledged that Pakistan’s space program faces significant obstacles.

He highlighted financial constraints, limited industrial support for space hardware development, and insufficient academic involvement in advanced space technology education as some of the primary challenges hindering further growth.

“Pakistan’s space program is for the national benefit across the spectrum of space applications, in line with UN SDGs (sustainable development goals), while making optimal use of national resources,” Gilani said. anadolu