China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Umbrellas are placed over the statute of the Beatles, during a photocall, on Liverpool's waterfront, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The city of Liverpool is getting set to celebrate the half-centenary of “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”, one of the most influential albums by local heroes The Beatles. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire via AP Photo)

Cast member Charlize Theron attends the “Atomic Blonde” World Premiere at Stage Theater on July 17, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

A Citroen Ami One concept car sits on display during the media day of the Auto Shanghai 2019 motor show in Shanghai, China, 16 April 2019. The 18th Shanghai international automobile industry exhibition runs from 16 to 25 April. (Photo by Wu Hong/EPA/EFE)

Tube passengers take a selfie next to a London underground roundel designed for the launching of the Night Tubes on display at Oxford Circus underground station in London, Britain, 19 August 2016. The long delayed Night Tubes service launched on 19 August. The 24-hour service will operate on Fridays and Saturdays. (Photo by Hannah Mckay/EPA)

Suspension artist and LUSH Cosmetics employee Alice Newstead inspects shark hooks that she had pierced into her skin during a demonstration against the shark fin trade at a LUSH Cosmetic store on August 24, 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Jonathan Miller, sweet grocery buyer and bee hive designer, checks the bees on the roof at Fortnum and Mason on July 22, 2008 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)