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)

Alphajet aircraft draw a heart-shaped message in the sky during the 2010 presentation show of the French aerobatics team Patrouille de France, over the French city of Salon-de-Provence. (Photo by Gerard Julien/AFP Photo)

These two ladies received some important messages on Valentine's night in Manchester, England on February 14, 2020. Brits celebrated Valentine's Day in style last night – proving you can have a good time even if you don't have a partner. (Photo by Mercury Press/The Sun)

A woman writes a get well message to former President Donald Trump during a prayer vigil hosted by Turning Point Action near the venue for the Republican National Convention (RNC), at Zeidler Union Square in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

An African Penguin holds a Valentine's Day card at the California Academy of Sciences on February 13, 2013 in San Francisco, California. In honor of Valentine's Day, the colony of African Penguins at the California Academy of Sciences received heart-shaped red valentines with hand written messages from Academy visitors. (Photo by Justin Sullivan)

A mother of a victim who was onboard sunken ferry Sewol, leaves a message on a desk used by her child at an empty classroom, which was preserved since the disaster, at Danwon high school during the second anniversary of the disaster in Ansan, South Korea, April 16, 2016. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

The cruise ship Viking Sky as it drifts after sending a Mayday signal because of engine failure in windy conditions near Hustadvika, off the west coast of Norway, Saturday March 23, 2019. The Viking Sky is forced to evacuate its estimated 1,300 passengers. (Photo by Odd Roar Lange/NTB Scanpix via AP Photo)

Kenyan security forces aim their weapons up at buildings as they run through a hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, January 15, 2019. Terrorists attacked an upscale hotel complex in Kenya's capital Tuesday, sending people fleeing in panic as explosions and heavy gunfire reverberated through the neighborhood. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)