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)

Children play inside China's first official Hello Kitty restaurant in Shanghai, China, April 9, 2016. Mainland China's first official Hello Kitty-themed restaurant has opened its doors to customers in Shanghai, serving a variety of food with the famed kitten character’s designs. Hello Kitty Bistro Bianco comes after the opening of Hong Kong's official Hello Kitty restaurant last year and the Hello Kitty theme park in Zhejiang province. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Ali Carter of England looks on during the match against Stuart Bingham of England during the 2011 China Open at Beijing University Students Gymnasium on March 30, 2011 in Beijing, China.

A woman attends a boxing class at Princess Women's Boxing Club in Shanghai December 3, 2014. Women have boxed as long as the sport has existed but for years they were relegated out of national and international competitions in many countries around the world. Female boxers entered the ring in an exhibition match at the 1904 Olympic Games, but it was more than a century later when they were given the green light to make their Olympic debut in London in 2012. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Chinese security stands near a Long March 2F rocket carrying Tiangong-1, China's first unmanned space module, stands at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 28, 2011 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. Tiangong-1,a small unmanned space lab, will be launched at 21:19 (Beijing time) on September 29, 2011, and will attempt a docking procedure with a Shenzhou 8 spacecraft later in the mission. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Female panda Tian Tian makes her first appearance in front of the media since arriving from China on December 12, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Laura Paipo (L), first blind principal in Uruguay participates in a street race with her sighted guide and friend Amparo Bauter in Montevideo, October 4, 2015. Paipo, 55, who took office on August 10, 2015 became the first blind principal of a special school which specializes in the education of visually impaired students. (Photo by Andres Stapff/Reuters)

The first tram is delivered to the Gogar tram depot on October 17, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The tram was delivered on a low loader which had driven from Irun, northern Spain and is the first of 27 trams expected to arrive at the depot over the coming months. Last month the Scottish Government intervened to oversee the troubled Edinburgh trams project assigning project managers from Transport Scotland to work with contractors Bilfinger Berger. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)