China on Thursday announced an ambitious three-stage plan to conquer the moon with an unmanned vehicle landing there by 2010.

China's Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence said the landing of an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010 would follow the satellite programme, part of the country's three-stage lunar project.

In the third phase, another unmanned spacecraft will land on moon and collect samples of lunar soil, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Deputy Director of the China National Space Administration, Sun Laiyan, said the satellite would obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar surface, analyse the content of useful elements and materials, and prove the depth of the lunar soil and the space environment between the earth and the moon.

Sun described the satellite project as an important step toward China's exploration of deeper space and said the moon would provide a good platform from which to explore.

The programme is also named the Chang'e, referring to a goddess who flew to the moon in an ancient Chinese fairytale.

In October last year, China became only the third country after the US and Russia to send a manned spacecraft when  'Shenzhou 5' blasted off with a single crew on board and returned successfully to the earth.