BEIJING – For the first time in history, China’s relay satellite, on anambitious lunar exploration mission, has successfully braked near the Moon,completing a vital step before entering a desired orbit, space officialssaid today.

Queqiao, the 400-kg satellite which has a designed life of three years, waslaunched on Monday to enable a rover to communicate with the Earth from theMoon’s mysterious far side, as part of the Communist giant’s ambitious goalof being the first country to send such a probe.

It braked 100 km above the surface of the Moon in line with instructionsfrom a ground control centre in Beijing, and then entered a transfer orbitfrom the moon to the second Lagrangian (L2) point of the Earth-Moon system,the China National Space Administration said.

“There was only a short window for the braking. And Queqiao had only onechance due to limited fuel,” Zhang Lihua, project manager of the missionwas quoted by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.

The relay satellite was launched on Monday to set up a communication linkbetween the Earth and the planned Chang’e-4 lunar probe that will explorethe Moon’s mysterious far side.

The satellite is expected to adjust orbit several times before it reaches ahalo orbit around the L2 point, about 455,000 km from the Earth.

It will be the world’s first communication satellite operating in thatorbit, the report said.