China to train two Pakistani astronauts to participate in joint mission to its space station

Beijing: Two Pakistani astronauts will be selected to receive spaceflight training in China to take part in a joint mission to the country’s space station, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Wednesday.

One of the two Pakistanis will have a chance to participate in a joint space mission as payload specialist, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson as saying.

The CMSA spokesperson was speaking with the media at Jiuquan in northwestern China.

In February, CMSA had announced that China plans to send an astronaut from its all-weather ally Pakistan as its first foreign guest to its space station, currently orbiting 400 kms above the earth.

This followed an agreement signed between CMSA and Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission in Islamabad.

After the agreement, CMSA said the space station named Tiangong is expected to welcome its first foreign visitor, a Pakistani astronaut.

The agreement included bilateral efforts to select and train Pakistani astronauts and then send some of them to China's Tiangong space station, which has been in orbit for nearly four years.

China has also been launching satellites for Pakistan for the past few years.