China launched its first lunar probe today, the first step in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to earth.

China will launch its first moon rocket this week, a key step towards future space exploration.

China is starting work on a satellite to orbit the moon by 2007 and plans to land a lunar probe by 2010, a space official said in Beijing today.

China has announced plans to send a man into space by 2005.