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China Launches Beidou Satellite As It Aims For Completion of Navigation

Network in May

A Chinese Long March 3B launcher carried a Beidou satellite into orbits, with three permanently over the equator and three others
orbit, adding the penultimate satellite to China’s independent in inclined orbits that swing north and south of the equator during
navigation fleet before another mission in May completes the each 24-hour orbit. China launched three satellites into inclined
constellation to give it a global reach. The Beidou navigation geosynchronous orbit last year, and the spacecraft deployed
payload rocketed into space at 1155 GMT (7:55 a.m. EDT; 7:55 Monday is the second of three to be permanently stationed over
p.m. Beijing time) Monday from the Xichang space center in the equator. The satellite launched Monday was built by the China
southwestern China’s Sichuan province, according to the state- Academy of Space Technology, part of China’s government-owned
run Xinhua news agency. A 184-foot-tall (56-meter) Long aerospace industry, and is based on the DFH-3B satellite platform.
March 3B rocket delivered the Beidou navigation satellite into an The Beidou satellites “can provide services for the driverless
elliptical, or egg-shaped, geosynchronous transfer orbit. China’s vehicles, accurate berthing of ships, as well as takeoff and landing
government-owned media declared the launch a success. China of airplanes,” Xinhua said. “It will be widely used in the fields of
has launched 54 Beidou satellites since 2000, but the launch date communication, electric power, finance, mapping, transportation,
has ramped up in recent years. The initial generation of Beidou fishery, agriculture and forestry.” The Beidou satellites also have a
satellites were designed as prototypes or test platforms, but the communications replay ability. Chinese smartphones already have
Chinese network began limited service over the Asia-Pacific region the ability to incorporate Beidou navigation data into mapping
in 2012. Chinese officials said the successful launch Monday and and tracking apps, and users in dozens of other countries are
a follow-up launch in May will complete the deployment of the also using Beidou signals. China wants to expand usage of the
Beidou program’s third-generation, or BDS-3, satellite network. All Beidou network worldwide, especially in countries participating in
of the early Beidou satellites have ended their missions, and the China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global economic development
Beidou fleet needs 30 satellites for operational global positioning program and a centerpiece of Beijing’s foreign policy strategy. The
and timing services. Until now, Chinese military forces have relied Belt and Road Initiative has extended to nearly 70 countries in the
on the U.S. military’s Global Positioning System for navigation Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Europe and the Americas, where China
support. China designed the Beidou network as an independent partners with local authorities to fund infrastructure and other
version of the GPS network, providing Chinese military and drivers of economic growth. Pakistan’s armed forces, which used
civilian users with a home-grown system in case GPS signals to rely on U.S. GPS satellites, is the only military outside China to
are interrupted during a conflict. Like the GPS network, Russia’s employ the Beidou network.
Glonass fleet and Europe’s Galileo navigation constellation,
the Beidou system is designed for global service. The Beidou
navigation satellite launched Monday will use its own propulsion
system to maneuver into a circular geosynchronous orbit more
than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator.
Chinese officials said engineers “have overcome difficulties
during the novel coronavirus epidemic to ensure the success
of the mission,” according to state media. The Beidou network,
named for the Chinese word for the Big Dipper constellation,
includes satellites positioned in three different types of orbits.
In December, China launched the last of 24 operational satellites
into a medium-altitude orbit more than 13,000 miles above Earth,
similar to the orbits used by GPS, Glonass and Galileo satellites. But
unlike the other global navigation systems, the fully-operational
Beidou network will include six spacecraft in geosynchronous

Lost in Space: Venezuela’s Only Telecoms Satellite Stops Working

Venezuela’s only telecoms satellite, internet services to rural areas that are The Chinese-built satellite was launched
VeneSat-1 (also known as the Simon not connected via fiber-optic networks, in October 2008 by former President Hugo
Bolivar Satellite), has drifted away from and was also being used to broadcast Chavez but has ceased functioning three
its assigned orbital position and stopped Venezuela’s heavily politicized state- years before its planned 2023 expiration
functioning, the Associated Press reports. run television channels into poor or rural date.
The satellite was helping to deliver homes that have no access to cable TV.

85 MARCH 2020