To much patriotic fanfare, china launched its first ever moon-shot today, the Chang'e 1 orbiter named after Chinese goddess credited with flying to the moon will spend more than a year surveying the lunar surface. It's all part of the China's long term plan to be the first Asian country to land a man on the moon. With Japan and India accelerating their lunar programs and the United States reviving its interest in the moon, it seems a new space race is on. As our China correspondent Lindsay Hilson now reports, it is as much about military might as it is scientific endeavor.

China's first lunar orbiter the Chang'e 1 launched by the Long March 3A rocket from a site in Sichuan province. The launch was broadcasted with about a minute's delay, so if anything went wrong they could pull the plug. But it didn't. And in 20 days time the satellite should start orbiting the moon, taking 3D images and analyzing the distribution of elements on the moon surface. Today's launch marks a significant step in China's lunar mission. Party secretary Hu Jingtao has sent a congratulatory message. Some 2000 Chinese tourists paid 60 pounds each to watch the launch, no foreigners were allowed. This is a matter of national pride.

This is our first probe to the moon and it's a symbolic event, I feel this is very important for us. Spending the money is a small matter for me, the main thing is to come here to witness the moment of the launch.

It was Chairman Mao, back in 1958 who said China should compete with the US and the Soviet Union in space. The first Chinese rocket was launched in 1960 and the first satellite 10 years later. But it wasn't until 2003 that the Chinese sent a man into orbit: Yang Liwei, who said last week that he hoped one day to found the first branch of the Chinese Communist Party in space.
We have a go for main engine to start.
Now it seems there is a new space race.
And lift off of Discovery.
Another Discovery space shuttle was launched from Cape Canaveral yesterday. The astronauts on board will anchor a new European laboratory to the International Space Station--from which the Chinese had been excluded. President Bush recently talked of sending American astronauts back to the moon.
We will build new ships to carry men forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon and prepare for new journey to the worlds beyond our own.
(The engine ignition) Last month, Japan launched a lunar orbiter, the most technically complex mission to the moon since the Apollo program of the 1960s. India too has an increasingly ambitious space program. And it's planning a lunar mission next year. China's space budget is less than a tenth of NASA's . But the US military believes China will soon have the capacity to knockout American satellite communications, critical in any future war. China and the US both see space as a new potential battlefield. Today's launch is another way for China to show the world that it is a power to be reckoned with.
Lindsay Hilsun, Channel 4 News.