China offers public chance to view first moon launch

Only Chinese nationals are allowed to buy the tickets, priced at 800 yuan (107 dollars) each, Yang Pei, a spokeswoman for the ticket agency, Chengdu Chang'e Benyue Co. Ltd., told AFP.

Viewers can choose from three viewing points, with two located 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) away from the launch site and one four kilometres away, according to Friday's Shanghai Morning Post.

The Chang'e 1 lunar probe is undergoing final tests ahead of its scheduled launch before the end of 2007. It is now at the launch site outside the southwestern city of Xichang.

The probe will be followed by robotic missions and, eventually, a lunar base to allow astronauts to live longer on the moon and utilise its resources.

China successfully launched astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in space.