What is the BeiDou system?

The BeiDou Satellite Navigation System is a global satellite navigation system independently developed and operated by China. It officially provided services covering the Asia-Pacific region in December 2013 and officially provided global services in June 2020. The BeiDou system is the world's fourth complete global satellite navigation system after the US GPS, Russia's GLONASS and Europe's Galileo system.

The main technical features of the BeiDou system include:

1. It consists of 35 navigation satellites, including 5 geosynchronous orbit satellites, 3 inclined geosynchronous orbit satellites and 27 medium earth orbit satellites.

   
   

2. It uses the new B1, B2 and B3 frequency bands, which have better positioning accuracy and anti-interference capabilities than GPS and GLONASS.

   
   

3. It can provide open services and authorized services. The open services can provide free positioning, navigation and timing services to users around the world, while the authorized services provide higher-precision services to the Chinese government and authorized users.

   
   

4. It has functions such as search and rescue, short message communication, and time synchronization, providing users with more comprehensive services.

   
   

5. The system architecture adopts three parts: ground, space and user, realizing a highly integrated design.

   
   

The construction and application of the BeiDou system have been continuously advancing, and it has become an important milestone in the development of China's space technology, playing an increasingly important role in national security, economic and social development, and other aspects.