BEIJING — A Pakistani astronaut will fly aboard China's Shenzhou-24 crewed spacecraft and become the first foreign national ever to visit the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Saturday, 7 November 2026. The Pakistani crew member will travel as a payload specialist, according to the announcement reported by Xinhua, marking the first joint flight of Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's crewed space programme. The mission is the product of a cooperation agreement signed in Islamabad in February 2025 between Pakistan's national space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and CMSA, covering astronaut selection, training and participation in Chinese space station missions. Illustration: A Shenzhou spacecraft approaches the Tiangong space station above Earth. This is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph of the actual spacecraft or station. What Happened China's crewe...