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)

Members of the Apollo Rainbow Dancers stretch out in special A train late on May 4, 1985, in New York. The legendary Apollo Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary in an official reopening after a 15 month refurbishing with a celebrity studded evening. (Photo by Ray Stubblebine/AP Photo)

“The Boeing X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle is a concept demonstrator for a next generation of completely autonomous military aircraft, developed by Boeing's Phantom Works. Manufactured by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, the X-45 was a part of DARPA's J-UCAS project”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Two X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) are shown to members of the news media July 11, 2002 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The X-45A, developed by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Boeing Company, is the first unmanned system designed from inception for combat missions. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Crowds look on as the super moon rises behind the Fremantle War Memorial at Monument Hill on November 14, 2016 in Fremantle, Australia. A super moon occurs when a full moon passes closes to earth than usual, with the November 14th moon expected to be closer than it has been in over 70 years. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

The International Space Station (ISS) moves along its orbit above at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, July 18, 2019, with a statue of Soviet Union founder Vladimir Lenin in the foreground. Circular star tracks around the Polar Star and tracks of the ISS is the result of the camera multiple exposure with a total duration of two hours. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A plane flies past the moon in west London on Monday, January 17, 2022. The first full moon – the Wolf moon according to native north Americans – of 2022. (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

Camila Cabello performs on stage during The Global Awards 2020 with Very.co.uk held at London's Eventim Apollo Hammersmith on Thursday, March 5, 2020. (Photo by Isabel Infantes/PA Images via Getty Images)

A helicopter flies in front of the Wolf Moon as it rises over London, England on January 20, 2019. The Wolf Moon, the Full Moon on January 20-21, 2019, is a Supermoon, making it look bigger and brighter than usual during the total lunar eclipse. (Photo by Dinendra Haria/Rex Features/Shutterstock)