China successfully launched its first unmanned lunar probe, Chang'e-1, on October 24, the first milestone of the country's lunar exploration program initiated in 2003.

Chang'e-1, named after the Chinese Goddess of the Moon, will fulfill four scientific objectives, conducting a three-dimensional survey of the moon's surface, analyzing the abundance and distribution of elements on the lunar surface, investigating the characteristics of the lunar regolith and the powdery soil layer on the surface, and exploring space between the earth and the moon.