Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Pakistan, in collaboration with China, will send his first space mission to China’s space station.
Going to a ceremony after witnessing the exchange of a cooperation agreement between the space investigation commission and the upper atmosphere of Pakistan (Supparco) and the Morted Space Agency of China, the prime minister said that this was another wonderful gesture of the Chinese government to further deepen bilateral cooperation in this field.
According to the agreement, two Pakistani astronauts will undergo training at the Chinese astronaut center. A selected astronaut will be trained as a specialist in scientific payload, preparing for specialized investigation aboard the Chinese Station (CSS). The astronaut selection process will be completed by 2026, with the aim of flying in an upcoming mission according to CSS planning.
The first mission of national astronauts in the CSS will involve carrying out scientific avant -garde experiments in several fields, including biological and medical sciences, aerospace physics, applied, fluid mechanics, spatial radiation, ecology, material sciences, microgravity studies and astronomy.
The Morted Space Agency of China said in a press release that the two parties will use approximately one year to complete the selection process before sending Pakistani candidates to China to receive comprehensive and systematic training. The details of when the selection process would begin have not yet been revealed, according to China daily on Friday.
After the Pakistani apprentices prepare, one of them will accompany Chinese astronauts to the Tiangong space station and will pass a short -term stay within the colossal spacecraft, currently orbiting the land about 400 kilometers on the ground, the agency said.
To date, the highest altitude that any Pakistani has reached is approximately 87.4 km, by a polar adventure and artist Namira Salim during a 55 -minute suborbital trip organized by the US aerospace company Virgin Galactic on October 6, 2023.
It is a common knowledge that the Karman line, an altitude of 100 km above sea level, is the beginning of outer space and the threshold for orbital.
The signing of the cooperation agreement has created new opportunities and has established a model for the most developing countries to participate in the international collaboration of manned space.
It is expected to inspire nations worldwide to join the mysteries of the universe and collectively forge a new chapter to advance shared interests for the benefit of all humanity, according to the statement.
Since the launch of the first Tiangong component in April 2021, Chinese space officials have raised the idea of choosing and sending foreigners to the space station.
The key project leaders such as Yang Liwei, the first Chinese in space and now an attached chief planner of the country’s manned space lights, and Lin Xiqiang, deputy head of the China Manitized Space Agency, have said several times that China is open to international cooperation in its space station, including flights with joint crew with other nations.
Chen Shanguang, another superior official in China’s manned space program, said in February 2023 that “several 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 the earth’s orbit and is the only operational space station built independently by a single nation.
The advanced Chinese position has three permanent parts, a central moddule and two science capsules, and is regularly connected to the visiting crew of severe and the spacecraft. Now weighs more than 100 tons and is expected to work for at least 10 years.
Until now, eight crews have been sent to the Man of the Space Station, including the Shenzhou XIX starting team, which reached the advanced position at the end of October and is scheduled to return at the end of April or early May.
In August 2017, Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy and Matthias Maurer in Germany, both from the European Space Agency, participated in an exercise in survival of the sea, which was organized by the Chinese Astronaut Center, in waters in front of the coastal city of Yantai, Shandong province.
They were the first foreign astronauts to participate in training in China.
