China is sending a probe to the dark side of the moon

China is preparing a ground-breaking mission to land a space probe on the largely unexplored far side of the moon, showing growing ambition as a space power in competition with Russia, the US and the EU.

If the "Chang'e 4" mission is successful, China will become the first country to do so.

The far side of the Moon is also known as the dark side because it never faces Earth and is still relatively unknown, with a different composition than the places on the near side where previous missions have landed.

The launch of the "Long March 3B" rocket is planned for tomorrow morning local time.

If all goes well, China's space program will emerge as a leader in one of the most important areas of lunar exploration.