BeiDou, China’s answer to US-owned GPS is almost ready for use after the state deployed two new satellites into orbit.
The new satellites join a constellation of 22 others at an altitude of 20,000km.
The constellation covers the entire earth, with five or six satellites being accessible from any point on the planet at any time.
China started developing BeiDou in 1994; naming it after the Big Dipper which comprises seven stars. The development begun in a bid to severe its army’s dependence on the American-developed GPS.
The first generation Beidou navigation system was ready in 2000, and was used experientially for domestic service.
The second-generation BeiDou was done in 2012: this version provided positioning, navigation, timing and messaging services to China and other parts of Asia Pacific.
The first half of 2020 will see the launch of the third generation of BeiDou.
BeiDou joins the four main global navigation satellite systems which include; US-based GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and Europe’s Galileo.
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Initially China was to join Galileo but dropped the plans in favor of building its own navigation system.
China and Russia struck a deal to use each other’s systems in order to enhance their compatibility and interoperability.
In addition to this, China is also testing BeiDou in Egypt, Sudan and Iraq.
As for compatibility with devices, majority of the smartphones sold in China, including major brands such as Huawei and Xiomi are compatible with bith BeiDou and GPS. This is still a far cry from GPS’s accuracy to the centimeter, however it is bound to get there in due time.
BeiDou Chief Designer, Yang Changfeng, said that the new satellites will improve the network in a manner that makes functionality as global SMS possible.
