( CNN ) -- China made history Saturday when it launched a spacecraft sending the nation 's first female astronaut in space . The Shenzhou-9 launched Saturday afternoon , carrying Liu Yang and two male astronauts , Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang . State media aired the launch held at a satellite center in Jiuquan . Liu , 33 , was the deputy head of a flight unit in the nation 's air force , according to China 's Xinhua news agency . Chinese women push for a place in space . She is a veteran pilot with 1,680 hours of flying experience , and excelled in space testing after two years of training . If all goes well , the Shenzhou-9 will dock with China 's orbiting space laboratory , making the nation the third after the United States and Russia to complete a manned space docking . Participation of women in space will aid training , improve flight crew equipment and expand knowledge on the physical and psychological effects of space on women , said Wu Ping , a spokeswoman for China 's manned space program . China rockets forward in race to moon . `` It will also further expand the social impact of human space missions and showcase the positive image of Chinese women , '' Wu said before the launch . `` As a woman , I am eagerly looking forward to this flight with a female astronaut . '' China has big aspirations for its program and hopes to build a space station and conduct a manned mission to the moon . The orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module was launched into space in September , and two months later it successfully completed China 's first space docking with an unmanned spacecraft , Shenzhou-8 , according to Xinhua news agency .
Liu Yang becomes China 's first woman in space . China aims to be third nation to perform a space docking . China aspires to build a space station and conduct a manned mission to the moon .