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First foreign astronaut to board Chinese space station

Xinhua
| November 7, 2026
2026-11-07

A Pakistani astronaut will join the Shenzhou-24 crewed flight mission as a payload specialist, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

After completing a short on-orbit flight, the Pakistani astronaut will return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft.

The mission will mark the first joint flight involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in the history of China's manned space program.

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