China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 completed its first orbital transfer Thursday afternoon, a step forward in its travel to the moon.

The orbiter was transferred to an orbit with a perigee of about 600 km, according to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).

Chang'e-1, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon, blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 6:05 pm Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

The circumlunar satellite will experience another three accelerations, which will further shorten its distance to the moon orbit, Zhou said.

It is expected to enter earth-moon transfer orbit on October 31 and arrive in the moon's orbit on November 5.