Report China plans to launch moon probe within five years

BEIJING (AP) — China plans to launch a probe to orbit the moon in three to five years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday, citing a space program official.

The announcement came as China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, was in Hong Kong making his first public appearances since orbiting the Earth last month. It came amid a stream of disclosures about the ambitions of the secrecy-shrouded space program following the success of Yang’s 21 1/2-hour flight.

“China is to launch its first moon-probing satellite in the next three to five years,” Xinhua said, citing an interview with Zhang Qingwei, deputy head of Yang’s delegation in Hong Kong.

Plans call eventually for landing a robot probe on the moon and retrieving samples of the surface, Xinhua said. It didn’t say when that was to happen.

China’s space program is a key prestige project for the communist government, which launched its first satellite in 1970.

Zhang said that after satellites and manned space flight, a moon probe would be the “third milestone” of China’s space program, Xinhua said. He said the moon probe would be launched aboard one of China’s Long March III A rockets.

Officials say the country plans to launch another Shenzhou capsule within two years and eventually wants to send up a permanently manned space station.