Satellite launch to bolster Beidou navigation system
Source: Xinhua |
October 27, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China successfully launched another satellite into space late on Thursday for its global navigation and positioning network, the launch center said yesterday.
The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province and was boosted by a Long March-3C carrier rocket.
It is the 16th satellite for the Beidou, or Compass system, the launch center said.
The network is scheduled to officially provide services for most parts of the Asia-Pacific region early next year and begin offering global services by 2020.
Since it started to provide services on a trial basis on December 27, 2011, the Beidou system has been stable, said a spokesperson of the China Satellite Navigation Office.
The system has been gradually used in more sectors including transportation, weather forecasting, marine fisheries, forestry, telecommunications, hydrological monitoring and mapping, according to the spokesperson.
The satellite will play an important role in improving the system's service, the spokesperson added.
China started to build its own satellite navigation system to break its dependence on the US-made Global Positioning System in 2000.
Between October 2000 and May 2003, the country set up a regional satellite navigation system after launching three Beidou geostationary satellites.
Beidou-1 could not meet growing demand, so China set up the more advanced Beidou-2 regional and global navigation system, Qi Faren, former chief designer for Shenzhou spaceships, said in 2011.
The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province and was boosted by a Long March-3C carrier rocket.
It is the 16th satellite for the Beidou, or Compass system, the launch center said.
The network is scheduled to officially provide services for most parts of the Asia-Pacific region early next year and begin offering global services by 2020.
Since it started to provide services on a trial basis on December 27, 2011, the Beidou system has been stable, said a spokesperson of the China Satellite Navigation Office.
The system has been gradually used in more sectors including transportation, weather forecasting, marine fisheries, forestry, telecommunications, hydrological monitoring and mapping, according to the spokesperson.
The satellite will play an important role in improving the system's service, the spokesperson added.
China started to build its own satellite navigation system to break its dependence on the US-made Global Positioning System in 2000.
Between October 2000 and May 2003, the country set up a regional satellite navigation system after launching three Beidou geostationary satellites.
Beidou-1 could not meet growing demand, so China set up the more advanced Beidou-2 regional and global navigation system, Qi Faren, former chief designer for Shenzhou spaceships, said in 2011.
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