XICHANG - China will launch the Chang'e-3 lunar probe at 1:30 am Monday in Xichang Satellite Launch Center, the mission's launching headquarters said in Xichang Saturday.

This will be the first time for China to send a spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.

Narrow windows for China's lunar probe launch

The launch of China's Chang'e-3 lunar probe, scheduled in early December, will have to target multiple narrow windows that last only minutes each, said a spokesman for the project Friday.

"The lunar probe currently has two launch windows each day for three consecutive days. The first window on the first day lasts four minutes, and the second window one minute," said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for the lunar probe mission, at a press briefing in Xichang, Sichuan province. [Full story]

Backgrounder: China's 'triple jump' progress in lunar probes