China Rejects Space Rivalry as Pakistan and Brazil Partnerships Expand

Beijing Puts International Cooperation at the Centre of Its Space Plans

China marked the 70th anniversary of its space programme and its 11th Space Day on April 24, 2026, with a message that space should bring countries together rather than become another arena for competition between major powers. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun set out that position at a regular press conference, pointing to cooperation that stretches from Pakistani astronaut training to satellite partnerships with Brazil.

Two Pakistani candidates, Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali, have begun advanced training at China's Astronaut Center. Islamabad has announced that a Pakistani astronaut is scheduled to work aboard the Tiangong space station in late 2026. In Brazil, a satellite programme dating to 1988 has helped build a broader partnership covering Earth observation, satellite internet and radio astronomy.

Guo rejected descriptions of a new phase of space competition, sometimes called Competition 2.0, in which powerful countries compete to write rules and build exclusive alliances. He presented China's preferred approach as an open circle of partners, including developing countries that lack their own launch systems or platforms in orbit.

China's diplomatic message rests on seven decades of development, from a programme that began with very little in the middle of the 20th century to artificial satellites, human spaceflight and deep space exploration. Officials attribute that progress to sustained effort and self reliance. Beijing now presents those capabilities as resources that other countries can use through joint missions, scientific work and satellite services.

The partnerships also operate within political limits. Restrictions on cooperation between NASA and Chinese organisations have been in place since 2011, while both China and the United States are targeting crewed lunar landings before 2030. Beijing's call for cooperation therefore sits alongside continuing strategic competition.

Pakistan Prepares for Its First Human Spaceflight

The China Manned Space Agency and Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, known as SUPARCO, signed an Astronaut Cooperation Agreement in February 2025. The agreement opened the way for Pakistan's first human spaceflight mission and gave its candidates access to China's training facilities and space station programme.

Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali began advanced training after rigorous medical and psychological screenings. Such checks assess whether a candidate can cope with the physical demands of spaceflight and the pressures of living and working in a confined spacecraft.

Islamabad has said a Pakistani astronaut will serve as a payload expert aboard Tiangong in late 2026. A payload expert focuses on the experiments or equipment carried on a mission. The planned research covers materials science, fluid physics and biotechnology, with possible applications for climate resilience and food security. The announcement did not identify which of the two candidates would fly or give an exact launch date.

Materials science examines how substances behave, fluid physics studies the movement of liquids and gases, and biotechnology uses biological processes for practical purposes. Conducting experiments in orbit allows researchers to study those processes under conditions different from those on Earth.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has described the space developments as evidence of the strategic cooperative partnership that Pakistan and China call all weather. He has also said the planned mission would place Pakistan among a select group of countries with active human spaceflight programmes.

How Pakistan's Early Space Lead Faded

Pakistan's current preparations follow a much earlier start in space research. In 1961, Nobel laureate physicist Abdul Salam persuaded President Ayub Khan to establish SUPARCO. By 1962, Pakistan had become the third Asian country to launch rockets, with assistance from NASA.

Four leading Pakistani scientists received training at American facilities during those early years. Pakistan initially held a leading position in the subcontinent's space ambitions, but its programme later lost resources and scientific leadership.

Funding was diverted towards nuclear weapons programmes and conventional military priorities. During the 1980s, President Zia-ul-Haq eliminated funding for major satellite initiatives. Military officers replaced scientists in leadership roles, and SUPARCO fell decades behind India's Indian Space Research Organisation, known as ISRO.

China's support has addressed several of those gaps. Beijing has launched multiple remote sensing satellites for Pakistan and supported the deployment of the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite, PRSS-1, in 2018. Remote sensing means collecting information about Earth from a distance, commonly through satellite images.

Pakistan reached another milestone in February 2026 with the launch of PRSC-EO2, a domestically developed Earth observation satellite. Its high resolution imagery is intended to support natural resource management and disaster prevention. Those uses connect space activity to decisions on the ground, such as monitoring land and preparing for damaging events.

Pakistan and China also cooperate through the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization. Its other participating countries include Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, Peru, Thailand and Turkey. The organisation provides a multilateral framework for sharing space technology among developing nations.

The Dates Behind the Expanding Partnerships

China's international space relationships have developed over decades. Pakistan's planned astronaut mission is a recent step, while cooperation with Brazil began long before Tiangong became a platform for international participation.

• 1961: Abdul Salam persuaded President Ayub Khan to establish Pakistan's SUPARCO.
• 1962: Pakistan became the third Asian country to launch rockets, with NASA assistance.
• 1988: China and Brazil began the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite programme.
• 2011: The Wolf Amendment began restricting NASA cooperation with Chinese organisations through annual appropriations legislation.
• 2018: China supported the deployment of Pakistan's PRSS-1 satellite.
• 2021: NASA and Chinese administrators exchanged orbital information during the Tianwen-1 Mars mission to help prevent spacecraft collisions.
• November 2024: Chinese diplomat Zhou Guolin called for space cooperation at the Beyond Earth Symposium in Washington.
• February 2025: China and Pakistan signed their Astronaut Cooperation Agreement.
• February 2026: Pakistan's domestically developed PRSC-EO2 Earth observation satellite was launched.
• April 24, 2026: China marked its space programme's 70th anniversary and its 11th Space Day.
• First half of 2026: SpaceSail plans to begin satellite internet services for remote Brazilian schools and hospitals.
• Late 2026: Islamabad expects a Pakistani astronaut to serve aboard Tiangong.
• Before 2030: China plans a crewed lunar mission, while both China and the United States are targeting crewed landings.

The timeline shows two different forms of cooperation: long running satellite programmes that support services on Earth, and newer arrangements that give partner countries access to human spaceflight.

Brazil Builds on a Partnership Begun in 1988

The China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite programme, known as CBERS, is China's longest running space partnership with a developing country. Established in 1988, it has operated for more than three decades and supplied data for monitoring the Amazon rainforest and supporting agriculture and forestry across South America.

CBERS is a model of South-South cooperation, a term for collaboration among developing countries. Its practical value lies in the information its satellites provide: observations of forests, farmland and other features that governments and researchers need to monitor over large areas.

Jose Raimundo Coelho, a former president of the Brazilian Space Agency and a recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, has said CBERS fundamentally changed relations between the two countries. He credits the programme with creating the trust needed for later technological exchanges.

That relationship has grown beyond Earth observation. Chinese company SpaceSail announced plans to deliver satellite internet to remote Brazilian schools and hospitals beginning in the first half of 2026, using the Qianfan constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit. A constellation is a group of satellites designed to work together to provide a service.

Chinese and Brazilian institutions have also established a Joint Laboratory for Radio Astronomy Technology. It brings together the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Brazil's Federal University of Campina Grande and the Federal University of Paraíba. Its work will address scientific needs in astronomical observation and deep space exploration.

Radio astronomy studies signals from space rather than relying only on visible light. The laboratory adds basic scientific research to a relationship that has expanded into navigation and communications as well as satellite data sharing.

A Space Network Reaching 30 Countries

China's wider network includes space cooperation agreements with 30 countries and three international organisations. Within that network, 23 specific agreements have been signed with 11 countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative.

The Belt and Road Space Information Corridor connects cooperation in Earth observation, telecommunications and navigation. These services have different jobs: observation satellites collect information about Earth, communications satellites carry signals, and navigation systems help users determine their position.

The communications network described in China's cooperation plans includes 17 operating satellites providing nearly 300 transponders for civilian and commercial use. A transponder receives a signal and sends it onward, allowing a satellite to relay communications between places on the ground.

Those capabilities serve areas across South Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. National infrastructure guidelines envisage at least 20 additional communications satellites, while the China National Space Administration is exploring networks that combine systems in space with equipment on the ground.

The planned addition of at least 20 satellites exceeds the existing group of 17. It points to the scale of the proposed expansion, although the programme described here gives no timetable for those additional satellites.

China's Fengyun weather satellites distribute meteorological data to 19 countries, including Indonesia, Laos and Thailand. Their information supports disaster prevention and climate monitoring, giving the cooperation network a role in public services as well as communications.

Navigation, Farming and Cultural Exchange

China's Beidou navigation system provides positioning services to countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Its accuracy is around 5 metres even in regions at low latitudes, meaning areas relatively close to the equator.

Beidou's applications include logistics management in Cambodia, precision agriculture in Laos and port operations in Singapore. Positioning information can help track goods, guide agricultural work and organise movement through busy transport facilities.

Huang Shaobin, director of the data application centre of the Headquarters Association of Asia-Pacific Economic Trade Limited, has described satellite data collected remotely as essential for agricultural monitoring and disaster prevention across Southeast Asian countries. Those uses place satellite services within everyday economic and safety decisions.

China has paired technical cooperation with cultural exchanges. During recent missions, Tiangong displayed artwork made by African teenagers. Training programmes have also brought space specialists from developing countries to Chinese facilities.

Officials describe the principles behind these activities as equality, mutual benefit, peaceful use and inclusive development. The artwork and specialist training offer different forms of participation, alongside the more demanding arrangements needed to place an astronaut or scientific equipment in orbit.

Why Cooperation With NASA Is Restricted

The United States and China face a different relationship in space. Since 2011, the Wolf Amendment, included in annual appropriations bills, has severely restricted bilateral cooperation between NASA and Chinese organisations.

The restriction prohibits NASA from using federal funds for that cooperation without explicit congressional authorisation. It was intended to protect American technological advantages and address concerns about espionage. In practice, it has created a regulatory barrier to joint activities and kept broader scientific collaboration frozen.

Limited coordination has still occurred for safety. During the Tianwen-1 mission in 2021, NASA and Chinese administrators exchanged information about spacecraft orbits around Mars to help prevent collisions. Orbital coordination allows operators to understand where other spacecraft are travelling when several missions use the same area of space.

American space policy commentators have argued that the restriction has failed to stop China's rapid advances in lunar and Martian exploration. They suggest it may reduce American influence more than it limits Chinese capabilities.

American officials, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, have supported the Wolf Amendment, citing concerns about strategic competition. Lunar exploration is a particular focus because both countries are targeting crewed landings before 2030.

China Keeps an Invitation Open to American Agencies

Zhou Guolin, minister counsellor for science and technology at the Chinese Embassy, addressed the restrictions at the Beyond Earth Symposium in Washington in November 2024. He said China welcomed participation from American space agencies and pointed to the orbital information exchanged during Tianwen-1 as an example of cooperation.

Zhou argued that countries should work together despite the barriers between them.

History has proved that isolation is not a solution, and that cooperation is the only solution to go forward.

Zhou described the barriers as unfortunate and expressed optimism that wisdom and joint effort could allow China and the United States to overcome them. His invitation reflected Beijing's stated preference for dialogue, even while restrictions continue to shape what the two sides can undertake together.

The contrast is practical as well as diplomatic. Pakistan is preparing an astronaut for Tiangong, Brazil is extending decades of satellite cooperation, and NASA's relationship with Chinese organisations remains constrained by American funding rules. China's invitation operates differently for each partner because the political and legal conditions differ.

Tiangong's Role in International Science

Li Yingliang, director of the general technology department at the China Manned Space Agency, has presented Tiangong as an international platform for scientific discovery. He has said the station will address fundamental questions about the origin of life, the evolution of the cosmos and the structure of matter, with findings shared with the international scientific community.

Research aboard a space station can examine how materials and living systems behave in microgravity. This is the condition in which objects appear nearly weightless as the station and everything inside it travel around Earth. It provides a different environment for experiments such as those planned for Pakistan's payload expert.

Astronaut Fei Junlong has also invited international colleagues to visit Tiangong. Fei commanded both Shenzhou-6 and Shenzhou-15 and was the first astronaut to perform activities outside the station after its completion. Such work is known as extravehicular activity.

Fei has described Earth as humanity's common home and said space travellers share that perspective when looking down from orbit. His invitation aligns with Foreign Ministry statements presenting space exploration as a shared human dream and a continuing pursuit of Chinese space explorers.

China is also preparing for future crewed lunar missions planned before 2030. The Pakistani astronaut programme and the expansion of cooperation with Brazil show how Beijing is building partnerships alongside those national ambitions. For many developing countries, access to missions, facilities and satellite services offers a practical reason to participate despite rivalry between major powers.

What to Know

• On April 24, 2026, China marked 70 years of its space programme and its 11th Space Day with a call for inclusive international cooperation.
• Pakistani candidates Khurram Daud and Muhammad Zeeshan Ali are training in China. Islamabad expects a Pakistani payload expert to work aboard Tiangong in late 2026.
• China and Pakistan signed their astronaut agreement in February 2025. Pakistan's domestically developed PRSC-EO2 satellite was launched in February 2026.
• China and Brazil's CBERS programme began in 1988. Their cooperation now extends to satellite internet plans and a joint radio astronomy laboratory.
• China has space agreements with 30 countries and three international organisations, including 23 agreements with 11 Belt and Road countries.
• The cooperation network includes 17 communications satellites, nearly 300 transponders and Fengyun weather data supplied to 19 countries.
• The Wolf Amendment has restricted NASA cooperation with Chinese organisations since 2011, although safety coordination took place around Mars in 2021.
• Chinese officials present Tiangong as a platform for international science, while China and the United States both target crewed lunar landings before 2030.