China says it will launch an experimental spacecraft between Friday and Sunday that will orbit the moon before returning to Earth, in a first for the country's ambitious space program.
The unmanned spacecraft will be launched by a Long March 3C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan, western China, state media said.
It is China's first lunar module capable of returning to Earth and the mission's main technical challenge will be making sure the spacecraft slows down enough to re-enter the earth's atmosphere safely.
Too fast and it could overheat or become difficult to track and control, Hu Hao, chief designer of the lunar exploration program, told The China Daily.
It is expected to take around a week to fly around the moon and will then land on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
The mission tests technology that will be used in a more ambitious launch, scheduled to take place in 2017, when an unmanned lunar probe will go to the moon, collect soil samples and return home.
Chinese astronauts have made five manned space flights on a series of Shenzhou "Divine Vessel" modules, with the latest mission in 2013 completing a successful manual docking with the Tiangong-1 space station.
Last December, China put a lunar rover -- known as the Jade Rabbit -- on the moon but it has been plagued by mechanical troubles, the China Daily said.
On course for the moon?
Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, said the lunar orbiter marks a step forward in the capabilities needed for a potential manned lunar program, which while under discussion hasn't been officially approved yet.
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