BeiDou System Begins to Serve the World

BeiDou 3 preliminary system is completed to provide global services.

China Satellite Navigation Office announced at a press conference held at the State Council Information Office on December 27 that the BeiDou 3 preliminary system was completed to provide global services, signifying that the coverage of the BeiDou system now extends to global coverage from regional.

From the launch of the first set of BeiDou 3 satellites on November 5,2017 to the 10th flight on November 19, 2018, LM-3A series launch vehicle flew 10 times and launched 19 BeiDou 3 satellites into space with 100% success.The shortest launch interval was only 17 days.

The BeiDou system, which is an independently constructed and operated by China, is a global navigation satellite system compatible with other navigation satellite systems in the world, capable of supplying global all-weather, all-time positioning, navigation and timing services with high-precision and high-reliability to various customers.

The development of the system was initiated in the 1990s under a “Threestep Plan” strategy. The BeiDou 1,BeiDou 2 and BeiDou 3 systems were constructed successively along a path with Chinese characteristics from active to passive and from regional to global.On December 27, 2012, the system began to provide services in the Asia-Pacific region, and global services were initiated on December 27, 2018.

The year 2018 was an extra ordinary year, as well as a heavy construction year for the BeiDou system, it was a launch record for a constellation deployment.At present, BeiDou in-orbit satellites and the ground system operate stably.The system performance has met the operational requirement after global testing and evaluation, and is capable of providing global services.

According to the schedule, China will launch 11 BeiDou 3 satellites and 1 BeiDou 2 satellite during the period 2019 - 2020 to complete the follow-on constellation deployment and further improve global service performance while ensuring regional services in the Asia-Pacific region, providing a firstclass navigation satellite services. The deployment of the global core BeiDou 3 constellation will be fully completed in 2020, and based on the BeiDou system,a more comprehensive, more integrated and intelligent national integrated PNT system will be completed by 2035.(ZONG Wen)