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Geopolitics · Asia

Pakistan sets 2035 Moon landing goal as astronaut mission from China nears

Pakistan’s planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said the country aims to land on the Moon by 2035 and send its first astronaut on a space mission from China on November 25. Two Pakistani pilots are training in China, and one is expected to be selected for the flight.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 independent reports from 5 outlets · Article text read from 1 of 4 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 11 entries
5 outlets3 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 3 unrated
Updat3 graphic: Pakistan
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan aims to achieve a lunar landing by 2035.
  • Iqbal said Pakistan’s first astronaut would embark on a space mission from China on November 25.
  • Pilots Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali have been training in China; one is expected to be selected for the flight, according to Reuters.
  • The candidates have been training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre.
  • Iqbal said cooperation with China would support Pakistan’s space exploration ambitions.

The brief

Pakistan’s planning minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said the country aims to land on the Moon by 2035 and plans to send its first astronaut on a space mission from China on November 25. The Times of India reported that Iqbal announced the plans while addressing the closing ceremony of World Space Week 2026 in Narowal district, Punjab province.

Iqbal described cooperation with China as a way to advance Pakistan’s space exploration ambitions. The planned astronaut mission is part of that cooperation, while the reported lunar landing target is a longer-term national aim. The article does not present the November flight as a lunar landing.

Two Pakistani pilots, Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali, have been training in China. According to The Times of India, one of them is expected to be selected for the flight. The candidates have trained at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre. The Times of India attributed the selection information to Reuters.

It did not identify which pilot will fly; Iqbal’s announcement set out the planned mission date, while the choice between the two candidates remains pending in the account.

Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission signed an agreement with the China Manned Space Agency in February 2025 to prepare a Pakistani astronaut for the mission, The Times of India reported, citing The Express Tribune. The agreement is the specific institutional arrangement described in the account for preparing a Pakistani candidate.

The article distinguishes Pakistan’s participation in a lunar rover project from Iqbal’s stated 2035 Moon landing goal. It does not describe the rover project as the same undertaking as the landing ambition. The two activities are presented as separate elements of Pakistan’s space programme.

The immediate milestones in Iqbal’s announcement are the planned November 25 mission from China and the selection of one of the two trainees. The stated longer-term objective is a lunar landing by 2035. The Times of India reports those plans and the China cooperation arrangement; the astronaut’s identity and further specifics of the flight are not established in its account.

Why it matters

  • Pakistan’s space agency and the China Manned Space Agency have a documented role in preparing a Pakistani astronaut through their agreement, while Iqbal identifies cooperation with China as support for Pakistan’s space ambitions.
  • The astronaut selection is a concrete next step: Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali are training in China, and one is expected to be chosen for the November 25 mission.
  • Iqbal’s 2035 Moon landing aim is distinct from Pakistan’s participation in the lunar rover project, according to The Times of India.

What to watch next

  • Whether Pakistan selects Khurram Daud or Muhammad Zeeshan Ali for the planned November 25 mission.
  • Whether Pakistan’s first astronaut embarks on the space mission from China on November 25.
  • How Pakistan’s stated 2035 lunar landing aim develops alongside its separately described participation in a lunar rover project.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets · 4 distinct reports
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 3 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Asia 40% · Europe 20% · Other 40%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 3 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. SUPARCO was established on September 16, 1961, as Pakistan’s national space agency.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Pakistan launched its first satellite, Badr-1, from China aboard a Long March 2E rocket.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. These programs built on China’s crewed-spaceflight milestones: the Shenzhou-5 mission carried Yang Liwei into orbit in October 2003, making China the third country to send a human into space independently.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. China launched Chang'e-1, its first lunar probe.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. China's Chang'e-3 made the country's first soft landing on the Moon.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. In July 2018, China launched two Pakistani satellites, the remote-sensing satellite PRSS-1 and the technology-demonstration satellite PakTES-1A, from Jiuquan.
    Background · from our historical context
  7. The China National Space Administration announced the International Lunar Research Station initiative in 2021, inviting international cooperation in lunar exploration.
    Background · from our historical context
  8. In 2023, Pakistan and China agreed to include a Pakistani CubeSat, ICUBE-Q, in China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission.
    Background · from our historical context
  9. It entered lunar orbit and returned images of the Moon in May 2024.
    Background · from our historical context
  10. Developed by Pakistan’s Institute of Space Technology with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ICUBE-Q launched with Chang’e-6 on May 3, 2024.
    Background · from our historical context
  11. Pakistan's SUPARCO and China's Manned Space Agency signed an agreement to prepare a Pakistani astronaut for a space mission.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Pakistan’s astronaut program acquired an institutional framework in February 2025, when the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the China Manned Space Agency signed an agreement to prepare a Pakistani astronaut for a mission. The agreement followed decades of Pakistani satellite launches and growing cooperation with China in space technology.

SUPARCO was established on September 16, 1961, as Pakistan’s national space agency. Pakistan’s first satellite, Badr-1, was launched from China on July 16, 1990, aboard a Long March 2E rocket. In July 2018, China launched two Pakistani satellites, the remote-sensing satellite PRSS-1 and the technology-demonstration satellite PakTES-1A, from Jiuquan.

Original sources

5 articles from 5 outlets

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