China's lunar orbiter heads toward moon

Beijing -- China has launched a satellite toward lunar orbit, the first step in its goal toward sending its own astronauts into space.

The lunar probe Chang'e-1 launched from a Long March 3A carrier rocket last week from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. It entered Earth-moon transfer orbit Wednesday and is expected to achieve lunar orbit Monday, the state-run Xinhua news service said.

Once it reaches lunar orbit it will become a circumlunar satellite, and is expected to relay pictures of the moon starting in late November.

Xinhua said this is the first stage of China's three-stage moon mission, with the second stage being a moon landing and launch of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to Earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research around 2017.

China's first piloted space flight occurred in October 2003.

© 2007 United Press International.