This is Tiangong I - or Heavenly Palace in English - the rocket that China hopes will propel its nascent space program into the 21st century.<br/> The experimental craft is paving the way for the country's first space station to rival that of fierce competitors the US and Russia.<br/> The small, unmanned Tiangong 1 will blast off from a site in the Gobi Desert amid much fanfare around Thursday, state media said.<br/> A female engineer on the test team said she always felt sentimental before take-off.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED STAFF OF TIANGONG 1 TESTING TEAM SAYING:<br/> "Every time before a rocket is launched, I would walk from its tip to the bottom, touching it, saying good-bye to it, wishing it a good journey."<br/> Beijing hopes a successful launch will showcase its growing technological prowess to the world, ahead of huge National Day celebrations on October 1.<br/> But the country has some way to go before it catches up with the space superpowers.<br/> Russia, the US and other countries jointly operate the International Space Station while China is not involved.<br/> The country is jostling with neighbours Japan and India for a bigger presence in space, but its plans have faced international wariness.<br/> Beijing says its space ambitions are peaceful.<br/> Sunita Rappai, Reuters
