Live
- Trump’s Social Security Tax Promise Faces Hurdles: What Retirees Need to Know
- Hyundai Motor India Limited Announces 2024 Edition of ‘Hyundai Always Around’ Campaign
- World Quality Day: Hindustan Zinc Reaffirms Commitment to Superior Product Quality & Innovation
- Samsung TV Plus Announces the Launch of Four New FAST Channels From Viacom18 Exclusively on Samsung Smart TVs
- Arun Pandey 3.0 set to revolutionise lottery industry with Great Goa Games (GGG)
- How Organisations Can Support Mobile Workforces with Diabetes - From Prevention to Management
- Google Rolls Out Real-Time Spam Detection Feature for Pixel Users
- Marriott international and Samhi hotels announce strategic expansion, sign agreement to open three more properties in india
- Telangana Group-4 Results Declared: 8,084 Candidates Selected for 8,180 Posts
- 2024 Is Shaping Up to Be the Smallest Black Friday Ever: GoDaddy Study
China successfully launches two navigation satellites
China has successfully launched two navigation satellites, taking another step in building its own global positioning network to rival the US-based GPS with a constellation of over 30 satellites.
BEIJING: China has successfully launched two navigation satellites, taking another step in building its own global positioning network to rival the US-based GPS with a constellation of over 30 satellites.
The BeiDou-3 satellites were launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket last night from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, state- run Xinhua news agency reported today.
The two newly-launched satellites represent the third phase of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.This system will provide services for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and form a complete global satellite navigation system by 2020 -- by which time China plans to have more than 30 satellites.
If everything goes according to the plan, China will become the third country in the world after the US and Russia to operate its own Global Positioning System (GPS) system.
Named after the Chinese term for the plough or the Big Dipper constellation, the BeiDou project was formally initiated in 1994. It began to serve China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2012.
Compared to earlier generation satellites, the BeiDou-3 is able to send signals that are better compatible with other satellite navigation systems and provide satellite-based augmentation, as well as search and rescue services in accordance with international standards."New technology has significantly improved the performance of the BeiDou-3, with the signal accuracy in space higher than half a meter while its positioning accuracy has reached 2.5 to five meters," said Yang Changfeng, chief designer of the BeiDou system.
"Launches featuring two or more satellites on a single carrier rocket will be conducted regularly," Ye Chengmin, deputy chief designer of the Long March-3A carrier rocket said.
All the BeiDou satellites currently in space were sent up from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, said Lin Yunan, head of the human resources department of the center.
The BeiDou-3 satellites and the carrier rocket were developed by China Academy of Space Technology and China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, respectively.
