China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

 China BeiDou system, rival of Global Positioning System (GPS) 

China has completely commissioned its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System earlier which could rival the US Global Positioning System (GPS). BeiDou Navigation Satellite System could boost Beijing’s security and geopolitical clout. From smartphones to e-bikes, the system has rapidly embedded itself in daily life at home. Now, Beijing eyes faster international expansion. Beijing has pledged to accelerate the global adoption of its home-grown BeiDou satellite navigation system, an alternative to the US-run Global Positioning System (GPS) which already dominates China’s domestic market.

Final geostationary satellite in the constellation launched and operating after having completed all tests. The satellite is part of the third iteration of the BeiDou system known as BDS-3, which began providing navigation services in 2018 to countries taking part in China’s sprawling “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative along with others. As well as being a navigation aid with an extremely high degree of accuracy, the system offers short message communication of up to 1,200 Chinese characters and the ability to transmit images. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang said the country was “enlarging its circle of international friends” after 31 years of developing the technology, which now accounts for over 70% of the domestic consumer market share.

The system is already in use in more than half the world’s nations and stressed China’s dedication to the peaceful use of space and desire to work with other countries. China is willing to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in space and share the achievements of space development with other countries on the basis of mutual respect, openness, inclusiveness, equality and mutual benefit as stated by Chinese officials. BeiDou is increasingly integrated into daily life in China, with new terminals and devices compatible with the technology expected to exceed 400 million units by 2028, according to an industry blue book published. Compiled by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the report was released at the fourth International Summit on BeiDou System Applications in central China’s Hunan province, where Ding delivered a keynote speech.

While China says it seeks cooperation with other satellite navigation systems, BeiDou could ultimately compete against GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo networks. That is similar to how Chinese mobile phone makers and other producers of technically sophisticated hardware have taken on their foreign rivals. The official Xinhua News Agency said BeiDou is compatible with the three other systems but gave no details on how they would work together. The navigation system has come a long way since its first satellites launched in 1994. Following a milestone third-generation launch in 2020, BeiDou has “now entered a new phase of global development, with comprehensive improvements in service performance and widespread expansion of large-scale applications, becoming a critical new infrastructure serving global users,” Ding said.

For China, among the chief advantages of the system, whose construction began 30 years ago, is the ability to replace GPS for guiding its missiles, especially important now amid rising tensions with Washington. It also stands to raise China’s economic and political leverage over nations adopting the system, ensuring they line up behind China’s position on Taiwan, Tibet the South China Sea and other sensitive matters or risk losing their access. Named after the seven bright northern stars used for navigation in ancient China, the BeiDou system has dominated the domestic market by powering smartphones, wearable devices, shared mobility services and other products. Key to China’s success was the China Academy of Space Technology’s development of rubidium atomic clocks that provide time and frequency standards for BDS satellites. The system was proof that attempts by Washington to impose a “tough hi-tech blockage” and crackdown on Chinese companies such as Huawei had failed. In spite of such measures, China’s innovation capability has only grown stronger. Just as President Xi recently said: ‘No country nor individual can stop the historical pace of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” .