CHINA'S lunar probe Chang'e 1 will skip the scheduled orbital correction tomorrow as the orbiter is operating normally and is right on its planned trajectory to enter the moon orbit on Monday.

The correction was the third scheduled one after Chang'e 1 skipped the first one planned on Thursday and finished its first orbital correction yesterday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

The orbital correction is meant to adjust the orbit's position in the middle of a space journey as lunar probes have often been lost in space due to imprecise positioning and speed.

The probe, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, is expected to be subject to another orbital correction during its five-day trip in the Earth-moon orbit before it starts to fly to the moon.

The satellite is estimated to enter the orbit which is close enough for it to be captured by the moon's gravity and became its satellite at 11:25am next Monday.

Chang'e 1 completed its fourth orbital transfer at 5:15pm on Wednesday and entered the Earth-moon transfer orbit, a critical point that determines whether the satellite can fly to the moon successfully.