China's GPS rival BeiDou to go global by June 2020

By Zhao Juecheng and Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2019/12/27 12:22:00

Visitors look at the Beidou navigation satellite constellation during a science show in March. Photo: VCG


 China's BeiDou-3 system, a global geolocation network, is expected to be completed by June 2020, providing global users with high-quality services including navigation, positioning and data communication. 

With the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) as its core, a more ubiquitous, integrated and intelligent, comprehensive national positioning, navigation and timing system is scheduled to be established by 2035, Ran Chengqi, spokesperson of the BDS, said at a press conference on Friday. 

Two more Geostationary Earth Orbit satellites will be launched in 2020, bringing the total satellites to 30 when the BeiDou system goes global. 

BeiDou-3 can provide global users with basic navigation, global short message communication, and international search and rescue services, and offer users in China and surrounding areas with regional short message communication, satellite-based augmentation, ground augmentation and precise point positioning services. 

The global short message communication and international search and rescue services were already available in December, Ran said.

So far, the BDS-based products have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, and the BDS-based solutions have been successfully adopted in different regions and fields, such as land registration, precise agriculture, digital construction, monitoring and management on vehicles and ships, and intelligent port management, in ASEAN, South Asia, East Europe, West Asia and Africa, Ran said.

China will further promote the technological integration between BDS and mobile communications, cloud computing, Internet of Things, industry internet, big data and blockchain, he said. 

BeiDou system is the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS system, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.



Posted in: SOCIETY,AIR & SPACE,CHINA FOCUS,SCI-TECH FOCUS

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