Pakistani astronauts to fly aboard China's space station soon: senior Chinese astronaut
China's State Council Information Office holds a press conference on the country's new-era space exploration efforts in Beijing on September 21, 2026. (Photo: VCG)
Two Pakistani astronauts are currently training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center and will take part in missions aboard China’s space station in the near future, Yang Liwei, deputy chief designer of China’s manned space program and a senior astronaut, said on Monday.
“We have also announced that two Pakistani astronauts are currently undergoing training at the astronaut center. In the near future, they will fly aboard China’s space station together with our astronauts,” Yang said during a press briefing on China’s new-era space exploration efforts held by the State Council Information Office.
In April, the China Manned Space Agency announced that two Pakistani candidates had been selected as the first foreign astronauts for China's space mission training, marking a landmark achievement in international cooperation on the Chinese space station.
At a press conference on May 23 for the Shenzhou-23 manned spaceflight mission, a spokesperson said that two Pakistani astronauts had entered the China Astronaut Research and Training Center on China Space Day to participate in mission training alongside Chinese astronauts. Under the current plan, one Pakistani astronaut will join a short-duration space mission as a payload specialist.
At the press briefing on Monday, Yang also praised Li Jiaying, or Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese, the first astronaut from China’s Hong Kong to take part in a space mission, for her outstanding performance in space.
In May this year, Lai traveled into space aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft and took part in a scientific research mission involving the Multi-spectral Imaging Carbon Observer, known as the Tianyun camera, the first Hong Kong-developed payload sent into space.
According to Yang, the Shenzhou-23 crew aboard China’s space station sent their best wishes to astronauts on the ground on Monday. The crew has been working smoothly and has made good progress on its mission. Over the years, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland have engaged in extensive cooperation in the field of manned spaceflight, with several Hong Kong universities directly participating in the construction of the space station, Yang said.
Yang further revealed that more people from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao are expected to join China’s manned space program. As an astronaut, he also hopes that more young people will pursue careers in the field.