Pakistan is on the verge of registering a historic event in the space sector; two pilots from the country are competing, after months of intensive training in China, to be selected as the first Pakistani astronaut to travel to China’s “Tiangong” space station.

Reuters news agency reported on Monday, September 28 that Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud have trained for months at China’s Astronaut Training and Research Center in Beijing, and a final decision on selecting one of them is expected to be made in mid-to-late October.

The selected Pakistani astronaut, upon reaching space, will serve as a “payload specialist” and will be responsible for carrying out scientific experiments designed by Pakistan.

Officials from Pakistan’s Space Agency say that more than 300 scientific proposals were submitted by universities in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad for this mission, and ultimately four experiments related to biotechnology were selected; experiments aimed at helping address food insecurity and the consequences of climate change.

The two pilots were selected from about 20 final candidates, and their training included Chinese language, spacecraft systems, zero-gravity conditions, and enduring extreme pressures during launch.

If this mission is carried out, Pakistan will join the ranks of about 50 countries whose citizens have so far traveled to space, but only Russia, the United States, and China have so far been able to launch their own manned spacecraft into space.

This mission is part of extensive space cooperation between Pakistan and China.

Under this cooperation, a Pakistan-built lunar rover is also scheduled to be sent to the Moon around 2028 on China’s “Chang’e 8” mission.

Pakistani officials have described this mission as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for the country’s scientists.