The Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew blasts off from the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, July 23, 2015. The Russian rocket carries Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, U.S. astronaut Kjell Lindgen and Japan astronaut Kimiya Yui. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

An unmanned Antares rocket is seen exploding seconds after lift off from a commercial launch pad in this still image from video shot by Matthew Travis of Zero-G News from the press area at Wallops Island, Virginia October 28, 2014. The 14-story rocket, built and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp, bolted off its seaside launch pad at the Wallops Flight Facility at 6:22 p.m. EDT/22:22 GMT. It burst into flames moments later, then plunged to the ground in a huge ball of fire and smoke, but authorities said no one was hurt. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. (Photo by Matthew Travis/Reuters/Zero-G News)

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)

Wild foxes walk in front of a launch pad prior the launch of the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Thursday, July 7, 2016. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Kate Rubins, Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, and Japan astronaut Takuya Onishi. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

The Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft is transported from an assembling hangar to its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, August 31, 2015. The Soyuz is scheduled to blast off with Aidyn Aimbetov of Kazakhstan, Sergei Volkov of Russia and Andreas Mogensen of Denmark to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 2, 2015. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A hungry tiger was almost left with a ROARing headache – after nearly colliding into a pane of glass as it dived underwater for a slab of meat. (Photo by Caters News)

A publican serves a glass of stout to a donkey in the East End of London, 1960s. (Photo by Steve Lewis/Getty Images)

Russia's Soyuz-FG booster rocket with the space capsule Soyuz TMA-16M that will carry a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) is transported from the hangar to the launch pad in Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)