The launch of the Chang'e I, envisaged in the second half of 2007, would be a landmark for China's space programme, China's space agency chief Sun Laiyan was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

"The moon probe project is the third milestone in China's space technology after satellite and manned spacecraft projects, and a first step for us in exploring deep space," he said in the report.

Sun, speaking at Beijing Jiaotong University, said China's lunar exploration programme was divided into three phases: orbiting the moon, landing on the lunar surface and coming back to Earth with samples.

The orbiter represented the first phase, with a moon rover to be used in the second phase scheduled for around 2012, Xinhua said.

The plan for the third phase was for another rover to land on the lunar surface and collect samples before returning to Earth, said Sun, who is the head of the China National Space Administration.

China would continue to research manned space missions, including a space walk and experiments to link passing spacecraft, he said.

"Space technology reflects a nation's overall power and is an important facet of the modernisation of national defence," he said.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.