China Set to Launch 10 BeiDou Navigation Satellites This Year
China is launching 10 satellites into orbit in order to complete its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) by 2020. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) revealed that the space stations are going to be launched in seven separate dates throughout 2019.
As per China Daily, the launching of the satellites to space was personally announced by Shang Zhi, director of the Space Department of the CASC, via a press conference that was held on Jan. 29. Based on the additional information provided, a total of 18 BeiDou navigation satellites were already launched in 2018 and these completed the BDS-3 primary system.
The additional satellites that will be released this year are set to complete the whole BDS global network project that is expected to provide a more extensive global navigation service. This will also be utilized for China's economic development and other things related to navigation.
But while it was mentioned that China is targeting 2020 for BeiDou satellite's worldwide launch, the Land of the Red Dragon actually announced late last year that the system is now global. It is already in use and the people are benefiting from it already.
"This signifies that BDS has officially entered the global era as the BDS expands from a regional system to a global navigation system," Xinhuanet News quoted Ran Chengqi, director general of the China Satellite Navigation, as saying.
The news outlet reported that more over 6,000 fishing boats in Zhejiang, China have been fitted with the BDS monitoring system designed to track ship movements. This will help people to get more accurate and fast positioning statistics.
In addition, the BDS were also installed on about 35,000 postal and courier service vehicles, 80,000 buses that ply through 36 main cities in China and 6.17 million vehicles. It was stated that the navigation system is even utilized in ordinary aircraft's own by regular citizens.
Further, the BDS is also being extensively used in the country's agricultural sector. It was said that the system has been applied to automatic driving features in agricultural vehicles. For farming, BDS was used on more than 50,000 farm machines and its facilities.
China's main reason for developing the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is for the country to become more independent in terms of modern technology. Apparently, it has concerns about reliance on other country's satellite systems because of the possibilities that they could lose the vital services when conflicts arise.
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