A Pakistani astronaut will become the first foreign national aboard China’s Tiangong space station, as Beijing steps up space diplomacy amid a burgeoning battle with the United States for supremacy in orbit.

China has successfully launched three astronauts to its Tiangong space station, marking another step towards a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030.The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert on Thursday at 5.

Commanding the miss Chen Dong, making his third flight to space and his second as a commander, having led the Shenzhou 14 mission to Tiangong in 2022. You may like . Wa