Pakistan Joins China’s Space Station & NASA Pushes Annual Moon Flights - Space News (Nov 7, 2026)

Support The Automated Daily directly: 15 free episodes a day, 5 editions, 3 languages, about $4 a day to produce. A coffee keeps it going: theautomateddaily.com/support Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - SurveyMonkey, Using AI to surface insights faster and reduce manual analysis time - https://get.surveymonkey.com/tad - Prezi: Create AI presentations fast - https://try.prezi.com/automated_daily - Discover the Future of AI Audio with ElevenLabs - https://try.elevenlabs.io/tad Today's topics: Pakistan Joins China’s Space Station - A Pakistani astronaut will fly aboard China’s Shenzhou 24 mission, becoming the first foreign national to visit China’s space station. The historic joint flight expands China-Pakistan cooperation in human spaceflight. [34] NASA Pushes Annual Moon Flights - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says the agency should launch major Artemis missions at least once a year as it works toward crewed lunar landings and a permanent presence on the Moon. [33] Classified Space Force Mission Launches - SpaceX launched the classified USSF-432 mission for the United States Space Force from California. The payload remains secret, underscoring the growing importance of military satellites and space-based security. [31] Rubin Finds Hidden Galactic Neighbors - Early Vera C. Rubin Observatory data revealed Aquarius IV, an extremely faint galaxy, and Rubin-GC1, a star cluster hidden behind Milky Way dust. The small preview survey suggests many more galactic companions await discovery. [46] Webb Data Reveals Hidden Exoplanet - A new image-processing method recovered the known giant exoplanet 51 Eridani b from James Webb Space Telescope observations where it had previously been concealed by stellar glare. The result could improve direct exoplanet imaging. [64] Dead Star Holds Double Rings - Astronomers found two separate rings of planetary debris around the white dwarf J1328−1450. Gaps in the wreckage may be maintained by surviving planetary bodies, offering a possible preview of the Solar System’s distant future. [62] Episode Transcript Pakistan Joins China’s Space Station We begin with human spaceflight. A Pakistani astronaut will join China’s Shenzhou 24 mission and become the first foreign national to board China’s space station. China has not announced a launch date or named the final crew member. Two Pakistani candidates, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud, have been training alongside Chinese astronauts, with one expected to fly as a payload specialist. The visitor is due to spend a relatively short time in orbit before returning aboard the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft. This is more than a symbolic first. Until now, China’s orbital station has been occupied exclusively by Chinese crews. Welcoming an international astronaut demonstrates Beijing’s intention to build new space partnerships outside the framework of the International Space Station. It also gives Pakistan its most important role yet in a human spaceflight mission. [34] NASA Pushes Annual Moon Flights Staying with human exploration, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has outlined the pace he wants for the Artemis program. In a new interview,