Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that Pakistan, in collaboration with China, will send its first space manned mission to China's space station.
Addressing a ceremony after witnessing the exchange of a cooperation agreement between Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPPARCO) and the China Manned Space Agency, the prime minister said that this was yet another wonderful gesture from the Chinese government to further deepen bilateral cooperation in this field.
Under the agreement, two Pakistani astronauts will undergo training at the Astronaut Center of China. One selected astronaut shall be trained as a scientific payload specialist, preparing for specialised research aboard the China Space Station (CSS). The astronaut selection process will be completed by 2026, with the aim of flying in an upcoming mission as per CSS planning.
The first national astronaut's mission at the CSS will involve conducting cutting-edge scientific experiments in various fields, including biological and medical sciences, aerospace, applied physics, fluid mechanics, space radiation, ecology, material sciences, microgravity studies, and astronomy.
The China Manned Space Agency said in a news release the two sides will use about one year to complete the selection process before sending the Pakistani candidates to China to receive comprehensive and systematic training. Details of when the selection process would begin have not yet been disclosed, as per China Daily on Friday.
After the Pakistani trainees become ready, one of them will accompany Chinese astronauts to the Tiangong space station and spend a short-term stay inside the colossal spacecraft, currently orbiting Earth at about 400 kilometers above ground, the agency noted.
To date, the highest altitude any Pakistani has ever reached is about 87.4km, by a female polar adventurer and artist Namira Salim during a 55-minute suborbital travel arranged by American aerospace company Virgin Galactic on Oct 6, 2023.
It is a common knowledge that the Karman line, an altitude of 100km above sea level, is the start of outer space and the threshold for orbital flight.
The signing of the cooperation agreement has created fresh opportunities and set a model for more developing countries to engage in international manned space collaboration.
It is expected to inspire nations worldwide to join hands in exploring the mysteries of the universe and collectively forge a new chapter in advancing shared interests for the benefit of all humanity, according to the release.
Since the launch of the Tiangong's first component in April 2021, Chinese space officials have floated the idea about picking and sending foreigners to the space station.
Key project leaders such as Yang Liwei, the first Chinese in space and now a deputy chief planner of the country's manned spaceflights, and Lin Xiqiang, deputy head of the China Manned Space Agency, have said several times that China is open to international cooperation on its space station, including flights jointly crewed with other nations.
Chen Shanguang, another senior official in China's manned space program, said in February 2023 that "multiple countries have told China that they hope to send their astronauts to the Tiangong station".
Tiangong is one of the largest and most advanced structures ever deployed in Earth's orbit and is the only operating space station independently built by a single nation.
The Chinese outpost has three permanent parts - a core moddule and two science capsules - and is regularly connected to severaal visiting crew and cargo spaceships. It now weighs more than 100 tons and is expected to function for at least 10 years.
So far, eight crews have been sent to man the space station, including the incumbent Shenzhou XIX team, which arrived at the outpost in late October and is scheduled to return in late April or early May.
In August 2017, Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy and Matthias Maurer of Germany, both from the European Space Agency, participated in a sea survival exercise, which was organized by the Astronaut Center of China, in waters off the coastal city of Yantai, Shandong province.
They were the first foreign astronauts to take part in training in China.
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