BEIJING, Oct 24, 2007 (AFP) - China was on Wednesday due to launch the Chang'e I satellite, the nation's first lunar orbiter, which will photograph and map the moon's surface.

Here are some key facts about the mission and China's lunar programme:

-- Satellite to be launched aboard a Long March 3A rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan province.

-- During the one-year mission the satellite will take three-dimensional images of the moon's surface and probe the distribution of chemical elements on the surface.

-- Crucial stages during the satellite's 380,000-kilometre (235,600-mile) journey to the moon include leaving Earth's orbit on October 31, entering lunar orbit on November 5 and transmitting first images of the moon to Earth in late November.

-- The 2,350-kilogram (5170 pounds) Chang'e satellite is carrying a stereo camera and interferometer, an imager and gamma/x-ray spectrometer, a laser altimeter, a microwave detector, a high energy solar particle detector and a low energy ion detector.

-- China's lunar programme aims to put an unmanned rover on the moon and bring back samples to Earth by 2012. China then aims to put a man on the moon by around 2020 in preparation for building a permanent lunar base.

-- Chang'e I is named after Chang'e, a famous character from Chinese mythology. She ascended from earth to live on the moon as a celestial being after drinking an elixir.

* Sources: China National Space Administration, government-run media.