ROUNDUP: China to launch its moon probe next week

China plans to launch its Chang'e-I moon probe next week after weeks of preparation on the launch pad near the south-western city of Xichang, state media said Tuesday.

A Long March-3A carrier rocket is already in place to launch the probe from the Xichang space centre in Sichuan province at 6:05 pm (1005 GMT) on October 24, the Beijing Evening News reported.

But the Shanghai Morning Post reported that the launch date was only narrowed down to between Monday and October 25.

A tour company in the Sichuan capital, Chengdu, has been offering 2,000 tickets for Chinese nationals to see the launch of the satellite, other state media said last week.

China's first series of lunar explorers is named after the legendary Chinese goddess Chang'e, who flew to live on the moon.

The launch of Chang'e-I will mark a key stage in China's ambitious long-term space programme, which includes plans to assemble a permanent space laboratory by 2020.

It plans to follow the probe with a lunar lander in 2012 and a third satellite designed to reach the moon and bring back mineral samples in 2017, space officials said last year.

Vice Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong on Tuesday also reaffirmed China's hope to join the US-led International Space Station (ISS).

"China sincerely wants to cooperate with the United States in space exploration and join the International Space Station project that has already involved 16 nations," state media quoted Li as saying on the sidelines of the ruling Communist Party's ongoing five-yearly congress.

China's 2003 mission made it the third country to launch an astronaut into space after Russia and the United States.

It released plans in 2000 for an ambitious 20-year programme to build an "integrated ground-space network" for space exploration and manned space research, including space stations.

It said it hopes to send exploration vehicles to the moon and Mars as part of its long-term plan for developing its commercial space industry.

China caused international concern by testing an anti-satellite missile in January, but Li on Tuesday said the government was "pursuing a policy of peaceful use of space."

Japan successfully launched a similar probe into orbit around the moon about two weeks ago. dpa bs ls bve