China launched its first moon rover mission on December 2, state TV showed, the latest step in an ambitious space program seen as a symbol of its rising global stature. The Chang’e-3 rocket carrying the Jade Rabbit rover blasted off around 1:30 am (Sunday 1730 GMT) into the dark sky, the CCTV official broadcaster showed in live footage from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwest of the country. It is the world’s third lunar rover mission following those by the United States and former Soviet Union decades earlier. China’s military-led space program aims to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send someone to the moon.
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