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China has successfully launched the third orbiter for the indigenous Beidou navigation system

China's BeiDou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) is a global satellite navigation system independently developed by China, and is one of the four major satellite navigation systems in the world, together with the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States, the GLONASS of Russia and the Galileo of the European Union. The BeiDou system is being built according to a ‘three-step’ development strategy:

The first step is to start the construction of the Beidou-1 system in 1994 and launch two geostationary orbit satellites in 2000 to build the Beidou satellite navigation test system, making China the third country in the world to have its own satellite navigation system.
The first step: In 1994, the construction of BeiDou 1 was launched.

The second step: the construction of the BeiDou-2 system was launched in 2004, and by the end of 2012, the launch of 14 satellites (5 geostationary orbit satellites, 5 inclined geosynchronous orbit satellites and 4 medium-circle geosynchronous orbit satellites) had been completed to form a network, which provided users in the Asia-Pacific region with positioning, speed measurement, timing and short message communication services.
The third step: the launch of Beidou in 2009.

The third step: the construction of the BeiDou-3 system was launched in 2009, and by the end of 2018, 19 satellites were launched and networked to complete the construction of the basic system and provide services to the whole world; it is planned that by the end of 2020, 30 satellites will be launched and networked, and the BeiDou-3 system will be fully completed.
It is planned that by the end of 2020, 30 satellites will be launched and networked to fully complete the Beidou-3 system.

The BeiDou-3 system inherits the two technical systems of active and passive BeiDou services, and is capable of providing global users with basic navigation (positioning, tachymetry and timing), global short message communication, international search and rescue services, and users in China and neighbouring areas can also enjoy regional short message communication, satellite-based augmentation, precision single-point positioning and other services.
The service will be available to users in China and surrounding areas.

On 19 September 2024, China successfully launched the 59th and 60th BeiDou navigation satellites, marking the official conclusion of the BeiDou-3 global satellite navigation system project. These two satellites will further enhance the reliability of the BeiDou-3 global satellite navigation system and the performance of services such as positioning, navigation and timing, and global short message communication.
The two satellites will further enhance the reliability of the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system and the performance of services such as positioning, navigation, timing and global short message communication.

The number of BeiDou satellites in orbit has reached 39, officially providing RNSS services to the world. The BeiDou system has navigation signals of multiple frequency points, and it can improve service accuracy through the combined use of multi-frequency signals. At the same time, BeiDou system has innovatively integrated navigation and communication capabilities, and is equipped with a variety of service capabilities such as positioning, navigation and timing, satellite-based augmentation, ground-based augmentation, precision single-point positioning, short message communication and international search and rescue, and so on.
Beidou system has a wide range of applications.

The application of BeiDou system is very extensive, and it not only plays an important role in the military, but also plays an increasingly important role in the civil field. For example, the Beidou system has provided important space-time information services in such areas as transport, meteorological forecasting, marine fisheries, hydrological monitoring, forest fire prevention, communications, power dispatching, disaster relief and mitigation.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the construction and application of the BeiDou system, making it one of the major national scientific and technological special projects and continuing to promote its industrialisation and internationalisation. It is expected that by 2035, China will build a comprehensive space-time system that is more ubiquitous, more integrated and more intelligent.
by 2035.

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