BeiDou constellation reaches fruition to fuel Chinese global ambitions
China launched its final BeiDou (Compass) satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre on the morning of 23 June. This completes the country’s global coverage for its dual-use navigation and timing system.
The satellite was lofted into geostationary orbit by a Long March 3B rocket. The original launch scheduled for 16 June had been delayed because of technical difficulties.
China rolled out BeiDou, a counterpart to the American GPS network, in three phases, with 55 satellites launched to date. The first BDS-1 phase possessed just two geosynchronous satellites (plus spares) and provided a limited active location service within China
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