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)

Bob Steele, of Jefferson, Texas, positions his bears during The Great Bear Show at the Dubuque (Iowa) County Fair on July 25, 2012. (Photo by Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald)

Expedition 44 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly seen inside the Cupola, a special module which provides a 360-degree viewing of the Earth and the International Space Station. Kelly is one of two crew members spending an entire year in space. (Photo by Scott Kelly/NASA)

A Pakistani child, whose family was displaced by 2010 floods from a village in Pakistan's Sindh province, sits on a wooden cart outside her family's makeshift home, in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad, on February 8, 2013. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

Katie Boulter celebrates winning her match against Kazakhstan for Great Britain who went on to win the Federation Cup Tennis World Group II play-off at Copper Box Arena in London, England on April 21, 2019. (Photo by Shaun Brooks/Action Plus via Getty Images)

Members of team China perform during the Artistic Swimming Team Free Final at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, 19 July 2019. (Photo by Antonio Bat/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Alessandra Ambrosio shows off some cleavage during a photoshoot in Miami, Florida on January 23, 2019. She wore a leather jacket and skirt and some over sized sunglasses as she flicked her hair in the Little Havana district of Miami for Italian Elle magazine. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Chinese model Ming Xi falls down on runway during the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Mercedes-Benz Arena on November 20, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)