Chinese astronauts set to blast off for space station

JIUQUAN, Apr 24 (AFP): China will send a new team of astronauts to its space station on Thursday, as the country marches towards its ambition of becoming a space power to rival the dominance of the United States.

Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the Chinese people's "space dream".

The world's second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.