Category: BeiDou

Part 1: Receiver innovator Q&As capture technology trends
This is part one of a two-part series.

As in January 2020, we are starting the year by providing insights from manufacturers of GNSS receivers. We asked these industry leaders to look back at the past two years and forward at the next two, and discuss key innovations in the following areas:
- utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
- dealing with jamming and spoofing
- integration with inertial measurement units (IMUs) and other sensors
- positioning using cell phones and other consumer devices
- any other areas or challenges they find particularly significant
Photo: Emma Hardy/Eos Positioning Systems

The single most important trend that emerges from manufacturers’ responses is the improvement in receiver performance due to the increase in the number of satellites (now 150) and signals (now more than 100). With four usable constellations, GNSS is now a reality. Multi-constellation receivers are quickly becoming the norm, even in consumer devices, and new user segments are benefiting from satellite-based PNT. Already, some smartphones and tablets are achieving decimeter-level or even centimeter-level accuracy. Over the next two years, new GNSS services will become available and, as the GNSS constellations continue to develop, the availability, reliability and repeatability of their signals will improve further.

A second important trend is the growth in satellite-delivered correction data, which substantially lowers the entry barrier for high accuracy applications by obviating the need for costly local infrastructure. This is starting to change the traditional cost-benefit calculation regarding real-time kinematic (RTK) vs. precise point positioning (PPP) corrections (see also our Editorial Advisory Board PNT Q&A).

A third and continuing trend is the increasing threat from intentional and unintentional jamming and interference across the globe, paralleling the increasing ubiquity of GNSS and potentially impacting most users. Therefore, receiver manufacturers continue to improve hardware and software techniques to defeat, or at least mitigate, this threat, greatly assisted by the increase in the number of available signals.

Finally, as automakers and high technology companies continue their efforts to develop autonomous vehicles (aka “self-driving cars”), the concept of GNSS integrity is getting renewed attention. Here, too, the increase in the number of available signals is extremely helpful.

CHC NAVIGATION EOS POSITIONING SYSTEMS

HEMISPHERE GNSS HEXAGON | NOVATEL

JAVAD GNSS SEPTENTRIO TRIMBLE

CHC Navigation

With François Martin, Vice General Manager, International Division

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
The addition of Galileo and BeiDou to GPS and GLONASS not only extends GNSS positioning to more obstructed environments, but also allows the use of new survey methods, such as the hybrid IMU-GNSS pole-tilt compensated surveying and stakeout with survey-grade accuracy. Further expansion of GNSS navigation systems will result in even greater availability, reliability and repeatability.

Dealing with jamming and spoofing
As an integrator and developer of GNSS systems, we focus our design on strong electromagnetic shielding and sealed isolation chambers. From a technology standpoint, the combination of advanced GNSS signal processing, optimized antenna design, and advanced filtering ensures minimal interference.

Photo: CHC Navigation

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
The integration of interference-free, high-dynamic IMU fused with GNSS technology brings an obvious benefit to surveying and autonomous navigation applications. The latest algorithm developments make it possible to get rid of tedious initialization processes, increase the productivity of typical survey tasks, bring extra safety to operators, and compensate for transient GNSS outages.

Positioning with consumer devices
Multi-constellation GNSS chips are accelerating the development of untapped user segments, but the repeatability of position accuracy remains an issue. The integration of high-performance GNSS chips and helical antennas as high-precision add-on modules on smartphones and tablets enables centimeter- or decimeter-level accuracy. This democratization of technology is increasing earlier adoption of GNSS technologies by a broader user base.

Eos Positioning Systems

With Jean-Yves Lauture, Chief Technology Officer

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
The past two years have seen considerable maturation of the Galileo and BeiDou constellations. Considering the now four usable GNSS constellations and the aggressive launches of Galileo and BeiDou, the number of available satellites and the list of frequencies they use have considerably increased. Accuracy itself is slightly improving with the availability of BeiDou phase 3 signals, whereas performance and productivity experience a significant boost under tougher conditions with more satellites and stronger signal availability. It is not uncommon for our customers to use 30 to 35 satellites out of 40+ in view using an Arrow Series GNSS receiver. We are waiting for the availability of the High Accuracy Service (HAS) (PPP) on the Galileo E6 frequency, hopefully in a couple of years.

Photo: Eos Positioning Systems

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
Eos has put a lot of effort recently in supporting external sensors and accessories to facilitate mapping of certain types of assets or mapping in certain types of conditions. For instance, this past year Eos released our underground mapping solution called Eos Locate for ArcGIS (see cover photo), which integrates with external utility locate devices to allow a user to precisely map buried assets. Eos Laser for ArcGIS interfaces with laser rangefinders to map assets in GNSS-impaired environments.

Positioning using consumer devices
With our bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approach on the market to support high-accuracy data collection for GIS, we have made it possible to override the consumer devices’ locations with accuracies down to the centimeter from our Arrow receivers. Customers can use any of their cell phones or tablets and immediately start mapping with submeter or centimeter accuracy.

Hemisphere GNSS

With Kirk Burnell, Senior Product Manager

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
The Galileo and BeiDou phase 3 systems introduce modern signal structures that allow more accurate measurements to be made than GPS first introduced. The new signals and increased satellite count are significantly improving receiver performance. Our Phantom and Vega product lines harness these new signals.

Dealing with jamming and spoofing
The increasing number of incidents of intentional and unintentional jamming and interference across the globe has impacted nearly every type of GNSS user. Our Cygnus interference mitigation technology automatically detects and mitigates the interference in real time, as well as providing spectrum analysis of the GNSS signal bands.

Photo: Hemisphere GNSS

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
Today’s autonomous-focused environment increases the need to share data across platforms. Both Vector and Vega provide robust GNSS heading, position and velocity to marine, machine control, UAV and internet of things (IoT) integrators, helping augment their sensor data.

Positioning with consumer devices
Positioning in consumer products will continue to drive innovation, while chasing accuracy and precision requires a strong understanding of geodesy fundamentals. As design requirements push well beyond the limits of what consumer GNSS delivers, and with the help of our knowledgeable staff, our precision receivers are delivering reliable performance in some very impressive applications.

Other significant challenges and opportunities
New GNSS signals and new surrounding technologies continue to come online, and the RF environment continues to see increased activities. Our underlying Lyra II ASIC technology and Cygnus enable our Phantom and Vega integrators and users to reliably coexist with these changes.

Hexagon | Novatel

With Sandy Kennedy, Vice President Innovation, Hexagon’s Autonomy & Positioning division

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
GNSS is now reality, not just inclusive phrasing to replace GPS. We are well into the era of multi-constellation receivers, and users will notice distinct improvements in solution availability with the addition of Galileo and BeiDou measurements. Over the next two years, we expect users in a variety of applications to start exploiting our globally available, fast-converging RTK From the Sky technology, which is enabled by the addition of quad-frequency signals supplied by Galileo and BeiDou (see page 29).

Dealing with jamming and spoofing
The RF spectrum is crowded and will only become more crowded over time. In 2020, we introduced our GNSS Resilience and Integrity Technology (GRIT), a suite of firmware options for the OEM7 receiver family. In addition to interference detection and mitigation, GRIT adds spoofing detection and time-tagged digitized samples for advanced situational awareness of the RF spectrum. With GRIT’s spoofing detection, opponents can try to spoof us. But fool us? Not a chance.

Photo: Hexagon | NovAtel

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
IMUs have become more accessible to more applications due to size, weight, power and cost reductions. At the same time, our algorithmic capability has significantly advanced to use lower quality inertial measurements for greater benefit. Originally reserved for truth systems, high-end mapping, and aerospace and defense applications, GNSS+INS solutions are now available in products like our SMART7 line of smart antennas for precision agriculture applications. Closer integration of the inertial and GNSS processing will bring further benefits in hostile RF or just plain difficult positioning environments. There is no perfect single sensor, but you can get more accurate by combining a set of sensors that offset each other’s vulnerabilities and limitations.

Positioning with consumer devices
The general population is accustomed to looking at their smartphone to see not only their location, but also the size of the “blue dot” of positioning uncertainty that accompanies it. We have always said accuracy is addictive, and we will no doubt start to see consumer demands for smaller blue dots with increasingly accurate positions. Making the digital reality match our real world demands continuously available and reliable positioning. Being lost is a terrifying feeling, especially for those who have been staring at their phone for the past 30 minutes and have no recollection of the physical world through which they have passed.

Other challenges and opportunities
The transition to autonomous vehicles, for both on-road consumer and off-road industrial applications, is inevitable. It is becoming increasingly necessary to prioritize the development of functional safety and integrity requirements to achieve the safe operations of autonomous systems. These requirements are necessary and entirely non-trivial to develop.

Photo: Stephen Drake

Javad GNSS

With the Javad GNSS Team

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
Simultaneous RTK and PPK processing of all available GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou signals in receivers powered by our 874-channel TRIUMPH chip has resulted in significant productivity gains. User Darren Clemons told us “These Plus units are at least 40%–50% faster… The combination of the four super engines and the RTPK is unbeatable. You can get an accurate shot just about anywhere.”

Dealing with jamming and spoofing
Usually, more than 100 signals are available at any given time, and we need only a small number to compute a position. By tracking and verifying all these constellations and their signals, it is extremely unlikely that we can be spoofed without our knowledge. Javad GNSS receivers will immediately recognize spoofing and take corrective actions. Spoofing protection is available on all Javad GNSS receivers and OEM boards.

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
The Javad GNSS engineering team relentlessly works to identify and integrate the latest sensor technologies that can boost productivity. Our TRIUMPH-LS’s integrated camera sensor has for years supported onboard photogrammetry, and now our TRIUMPH-3 receiver’s integrated IMU provides high-precision tilt compensation.

Other challenges and opportunities
Our innovative RTPK feature is improving GNSS surveying and monitoring. Our Triumph-LS and Triumph-3 RTK rover systems combine the strengths of RTK and PPK into a system that can post-process RTK data and verify its results in parallel and real time. Users get the best of both worlds. If RTK fails, RTPK comes to the rescue in a fraction of a second.

Septentrio

With Gustavo Lopez (pictured) and Stef van der Loo, Market Access Managers

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou [GL]
With 150 GNSS satellites in space, multi-constellation has been a natural transition for improved GNSS availability. We see this in rover applications and in upgraded reference networks modernizing correction services. The next two years will be transcendent as constellations finally start delivering new services. We see our products soon integrating
GAL-OSNMA for anti-spoofing and then moving to new high-accuracy services.

Dealing with jamming and spoofing [GL]
We have witnessed a large increase in jamming and spoofing events as GNSS ubiquity increases. Users are becoming conscious of this, yet many integrations are still using vulnerable receivers, and we see manufacturers falsely claiming to have proper resilience. Septentrio’s AIM+ technology uniquely mitigates all these risks, and users come to us for expert advice on this area. In the coming years, we expect further receiver innovations and developments in adjacent technologies.

In 2020, Septentrio opened an R&D center in Espoo, Finland. (Photo: izhairguns/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)

Integration with IMUs and other sensors [SVL]
Integration of sensors and sensor fusion moved from the research stage to the major production and adoption phase as an element in autonomous systems. Using a GNSS/INS (see our AsteRx-i products) is crucial for various applications — for example, being able to work in difficult environments — and for vehicle orientation. The development of lower cost IMUs while keeping high performance will enable a shift in focus from hardware to software. This will result in multi-sensor technology that is better scalable, easier to use, and more stable to integrate in relation to a full system with various sensors.

Positioning with consumer devices [GL]
We see further integration of dual-frequency GNSS chipsets in mobile technology for increased accuracy, which is key for future consumer applications. Septentrio has also witnessed the important involvement of telecom operators in GNSS correction services. Septentrio products (such as the PolaRx5 or AsteRx-SB) are deployed on new generation networks as operators prepare for the new generation of positioning in cell technology.

Other significant challenges and opportunities [GL]
Two areas are emerging thanks to the autonomy era and due to further regulations in the market. The first is the concept of GNSS integrity, which has a strong link to the reliability of autonomous solutions. The second is security, which, beyond anti-spoofing, is linked to the cybersecurity of GNSS systems as the demand increases for the protection of electronics and software.

Trimble

With Stuart Riley, Vice President of GNSS Technology

Utilizing Galileo and BeiDou
Most Trimble precision receivers can utilize any combination of GNSS satellite constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS) to deliver centimeter accuracy and optimize performance, even in degraded conditions. Users can select the constellations they want the receiver to use.

Dealing with jamming and spoofing
Spoofing is rare and low risk in locations in which Trimble’s precision GNSS agriculture, construction and geospatial customers operate. However, to protect users, modern Trimble Maxwell-based GNSS receivers implement hardware- and software-based techniques to detect and mitigate spoofing. Jamming sometimes impacts customers, but is not their primary challenge. The same issues are still present today as they were in the early days of precision GNSS. The main productivity concerns remain related to multipath and problems around obstructions and trees. Trimble continues to improve our GNSS systems’ robustness with advances in processing algorithms and hardware enhancements such as integrating inertial technology.

Trimble SiteVision uses Catalyst and augmented reality to preview a new housing development in an open field. (Photo: Trimble)

Integration with IMUs and other sensors
The Trimble R12i and SPS986 represent Trimble’s third-generation receivers (preceded by the R10 and the R12) capable of integrating inertial measurements into 3D GNSS positioning. In addition to speed and convenience for the user, integration with IMU provides immunity to magnetic interference and real-time integrity monitoring.

With the introduction of the Trimble R12 with the ProPoint GNSS positioning engine, we significantly improved the performance in challenging environments. This was further enhanced with the addition of an IMU for tilt compensation in the R12i. The new solution provides a system that delivers more accurate results in more places and in less time.

Positioning with consumer devices
The Trimble SiteVision augmented reality solution and Trimble Catalyst GNSS receiver operate on Android devices. Trimble Catalyst technology provides a software-defined GNSS receiver capable of survey-grade accuracy. Catalyst is the ideal solution for third-party applications that benefit from precise real-time positioning. Trimble SiteVision combines Catalyst positioning with augmented reality to deliver real-time, on-site visualization of proposed structures and existing underground assets.

Other significant challenges and opportunities
An ongoing challenge in GNSS positioning is the ability to obtain positions with suitable accuracy when and where they are needed. Solutions such as RTK and VRS provide solid performance at local and regional levels. Today, these technologies are complemented by subscription-based Trimble RTX positioning services, a global approach that uses a network of GNSS tracking stations and satellite-delivered correction data to achieve required accuracies. In 2020, coverage for Trimble CenterPoint RTX Fast, which enables users to achieve two-centimeter or better accuracy with initialization time of less than one minute, was expanded to cover the continental United States as well as much of Canada and Western Europe. The CenterPoint RTX Fast network now covers more than 5 million square miles worldwide. Trimble RTX coverage enables global users such as farmers, land surveyors and GIS professionals using RTX-capable receivers, to untether from the cost and complexities of GNSS base stations. In addition, the service offers a single, continuous corrections network ideal for enabling a broad range of safety-critical autonomous applications in markets such as automotive, agriculture and construction.

Feature photo: Emma Hardy/Eos Positioning Systems
January 12, 2021
Directions 2021: BDS marches to new era of global services

Yang Changfeng, chief architect, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, speaks at an international event. (Photo: BDS)

On July 31, 2020, BDS-3, the global version of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), was formally commissioned, marking the completion of its three-step development process. BDS enters a new era of global services. With the principle of “serving the world and benefiting mankind,” BDS provides seven types of services to users worldwide, including positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services, a global short-message communication (GSMC) service, a regional short-message communication (RSMC) service, an international search-and-rescue (SAR) service, the BeiDou satellite-based augmentation system (BDSBAS), the BDS/GNSS ground-based augmentation system (BDGAS), and the precise point positioning (PPP) service. BDS has been continuously making contributions to improving GNSS capabilities and promoting the development of GNSS applications and technologies.

In 2020, as BDS construction was successfully completed, BDS has made fruitful achievements in application development and internationalization.

System Construction

Space Constellation Deployment. From March to June 2020, two BDS-3 GEO satellites were launched, while the in-orbit tests of two IGSO satellites, two GEO satellites, and two MEO satellites were completed. As the result, the global system constellation was successfully deployed.

By the end of October 2020, 45 in-orbit operational BDS satellites provide services to global users, including 15 BDS-2 satellites and 30 BDS-3 satellites.

Ground System Development. More than 40 new ground stations have been built, tested and commissioned. The BDS ground system is operating stably, supporting daily BDS operations.

Basic Service Enhancement

Generally speaking, the accuracy of the BDS signal-in-space is better than 0.5 m, BDS global positioning accuracy is better than 10 m, BDS velocity measurement accuracy is better than 0.2 m/s, and BDS timing accuracy is better than 20 ns. In the Asia-Pacific region, BDS positioning accuracy is better than 5 m, the velocity measurement accuracy is better than 0.1m/s, and timing accuracy is better than 10 ns.

In the key service area, there are 30 BDS-3 satellites and 15 BDS-2 satellites that jointly provide the services using B1I and B3I signals. The actual average measured positioning accuracies are about 1.48 m horizontally and 2.99 m vertically (95% confidence), which are improvements of about 30% and 5% respectively as opposed to solely relying on the BDS-2 system.

Globally, with the B1I, B3I, B1C and B2a signals, BDS-3 offers service availability of 100% (PDOP ≤6,). The actual measured positioning accuracies are about 1.54 m horizontally and 2.65 m vertically (95% confidence).

Featured Services Benefit Users

Presently, the BDS PPP service covers China and its surrounding areas. By broadcasting the high-precision orbit and satellite clock error corrections through the B2b signal, the high-precision positioning service is provided, while initial testing measurements show that the positioning accuracies are about 0.18 m horizontally and 0.26 m vertically (95% confidence).

BDSBAS was developed in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards to provide SBAS services with superior accuracy and integrity, enabling aircraft approach with vertical guidance of class I (APV-I). The BDSBAS services cover China and its surrounding areas, and the SBAS data, following ICAO standards are broadcast by the three BDS GEO satellites. In particular, the single frequency SBAS service is being provided through the BDSBAS-B1C signal. At the moment, the civil aviation certification process of the BDSBAS SF service is being prepared. The BDSBAS-B2a signal will provide the Dual Frequency Multiple Constellation (DFMC) SBAS service. BDS has been actively participating in the development process of the DFMC standards and carrying out the verification of the draft DFMC SBAS Standard and Recommended Practices.

BDGAS consists of 155 framework reference stations and nearly 2,200 regional stations in China. The system carries out high-precision applications in many fields, such as surveying and mapping, land resources, earthquake monitoring, transportation and meteorology. Its basic services include real-time positioning at the meter, decimeter and centimeter levels, as well as precise post-processing positioning at the millimeter level.

Being developed in accordance with Cospas-Sarsat standards, the BDS MEO-SAR service provides the detection probability of the international search-and-rescue service of better than 99%, with the characteristic return link capability. In July, a joint test was carried out using the BDS MEO-SAR satellites with the Cospas-Sarsat ground station in Maryland, U.S., and the relevant technical documents and the equipment admittance testing reports were formally submitted to Cospas-Sarsat, which provides Chinese contributions to the international MEO-SAR family.

RSMC provides service to China and its surrounding areas through three GEO satellites. Its communication capability is greatly improved compared to BDS-2. With service capacity of 12 million times per hour, the transmitting power of user terminals is reduced to 1-3 W and the single message capacity reaches 1,000 Chinese characters. The construction of the RSMC service platform has been completed to promote the organic integration of short message and mobile communication services, and to further exert the advantages of the BDS featured services.

GSMC provides global services through 14 MEO satellites with single message capacity of 40 Chinese characters.

Figure 1. The number of visible BDS satellites as of BDT 13:00, Oct. 29, 2020. The number of visible satellites at Asia-Pacific Region is greater than 20. (Source: www.csno-tarc.cn)

Integrated Applications

As the system construction accelerates, BDS is also making great efforts to strengthen the development of BDS fundamental products and promote large-scale applications in various fields. The integrated applications and innovative development adopt the “BDS+” and “+BDS” models to improve quality and efficiency as well as to stimulate a healthy and fast-growing GNSS industry.

Fundamental Products. At present, the fundamental BDS products have been used in areas such as mass-market applications, where the performance has reached or is close to the world-class level. Progress has been made in the research and development of multi-system baseband-RF integrated high-precision chips. The 28 nm chips have been mass-produced, and the 22 nm chips are about to be mass-produced. As a result, the function and performance of the chips will reach a new level. The BDS navigation chips, modules, high-precision boards and antennas have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, serving millions of users worldwide.

Industrial Applications. BDS has been widely used in various fields, including communication and transportation, public security, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, hydrological monitoring, meteorological forecasting, time synchronization, power dispatching, and disaster prevention and mitigation. Significant economic and social benefits have been generated.

In the field of transportation, in the first three quarters of 2020, more than 7 million road vehicles were using BDS. The number of postal and express delivery vehicles using BDS reached 314,000, and the number of ships is about 1,369. In general aviation, 300 planes are using BDS.

In agriculture, BDS-based automatic steering systems are on more than 45,000 pieces of agricultural machinery and equipment, saving 50% of the labor cost. BDS-based agricultural machinery operation supervision platforms are serving 10 million units of agricultural machinery equipment, greatly improving management and operational efficiency.

In forestry, the BDS positioning and short message communication services are widely used in forest fire prevention, natural forest protection, forest inspection, pest control and so on.

In the fishery field, BDS provides fishery managers and fishing vessels with ship position monitoring, emergency rescue, information dissemination, vessel management and other services. BDS terminals have been installed on more than 70,000 fishing boats and law enforcement vessels in China. More than 10,000 people have been saved.

For disaster prevention and mitigation, a three-level platform covering the national ministries and the provinces was built to offer six-tier application services, deploying more than 45,000 BDS terminals.

BDS plays an important role in the emergency response to major disasters such as flooding in South China and forest fire in Southwest China this year. BDS is accelerating entry into new infrastructural construction, and is deeply integrated with new technologies such as next-generation communication, blockchain, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and more. New modes, formats and markets for BDS applications are constantly emerging.

Mass-Market Applications. BDS-based navigation and positioning services have been adopted by various enterprises in the fields of e-commerce, smart mobile terminals, location-based services, the sharing economy and people’s livelihood, profoundly changing people’s production and lifestyles. Just like water and electricity, BDS provides public services that are easily accessible and available on demand. In smartphone applications, domestic and international mainstream chip manufacturers have released communication-navigation integrated chips compatible with BDS. More than 90% of mobile-phone companies applying for access to China’s domestic network support BDS positioning. Smartphones from Huawei, MI, Apple, VIVO, OPPS and other big brands in China are BDS-enabled.

BDS Standards. The updating and upgrading of the BDS standard system is progressing smoothly, with Version 2.0 to be released soon. The BDS application standard systems will be published in electric, railway and other industries. The revision of the national BDS standards is advancing steadily. Four national standards were issued in early 2019, and 28 national standards will be released by the end of 2020. Forty-two standards related to the BDS program have been issued in three batches, while 58 new standards are being formulated.

The work related to BDS intellectual properties is being carried out, and various innovation entities continue to improve BDS’ intellectual property creation, utilization and protection capabilities. Statistics shows that Chinese GNSS-related patent applications reached 12,170 in 2019 and 9,411 by the end of October, with an average growth rate of 21.7% in the past three years.

International Cooperation

Bilateral Cooperation. BDS continues to carry out bilateral cooperation with other GNSS to promote compatibility, interoperability and joint applications. Under the China-U.S. civil GNSS cooperation platform, working groups have been set up to continuously engage in cooperation and exchanges in areas such as compatibility and interoperability, augmentation systems and aviation applications, civil service provisions, etc. China and the Russian Federation held their seventh bilateral meeting in October, and have been pushing forward landmark demonstration projects such as joint ground station set-up, cross-border transportation and precision agriculture. China and the European Union are carrying out coordination, exchanges and cooperation under the framework of the China-EU space cooperation dialogue.

Multilateral Cooperation. The BDS team participates in meetings of the International Committee on Global Navigation Systems (ICG), and continuously promotes discussions on relevant topics. The experience fighting COVID-19 using BDS/GNSS, as well as BDS applications in pandemic prevention and control, are being shared with the international GNSS community. During the ninth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum held in July, video conferences promoted the deepening of China-Arab satellite navigation cooperation.

International BDS Applications. With the export of BDS high-precision products, BDS is widely used in different regions and fields, such as land registration, precision agriculture, warehouse logistics in ASEAN countries, construction in Western Asia, airport timing and plying the seas in South Asia, power plant inspections in Eastern Europe, and land surveys in African countries. BDS high-precision products are exported to more than 120 countries and regions. BDGAS technologies and products are systematically exported, serving more than 100 million users worldwide.

International Standards. BDS has been adopted by many international organizations including the ICAO, the International Maritime Organization, Cospas-Sarsat and mobile communication. A number of international standards supporting BDS have been released. In March, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) officially issued the first international standard for BDS vessel receiving equipment inspection (IEC 61108-5), which provides the basis for global classification societies to carry out type certification of BDS equipment on vessels. In July, the first batch of 3GPP standards supporting the BDS B1C signal was officially released. The series of standards will support BDS signals in Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) of 5G communication. By year’s end, the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) 10403.X standard, which fully supports BDS, will be officially released, marking an important milestone in the creation of a general data format standard for BDS receivers.

Adhering to the development concept of “the Chinese BDS, the World’s BDS and the First Class BDS,” BDS development vigorously carries forward the Beidou spirit in the new era — independent innovation, open integration, unity and pursuit of excellence. By 2035, a more ubiquitous, integrated and comprehensive national PNT system with a spatial-temporal information service infrastructure covering space, sky, Earth and sea, and offering unified high precision, high intelligence, high security and high efficiency, will be built. It will provide core support for future intelligent and unmanned development; continuously promote system upgrading; integrate new technologies such as new generation communication and low orbit augmentation; strive to develop high-quality capabilities such as quantum navigation, full-source navigation, and micro PNT; and build a spatial-time information service infrastructure covering space, sky, Earth and sea, with high precision, high intelligence, high security and high efficiency.

December 8, 2020
China’s BeiDou ushers in a ‘golden decade’ for companies

Image: BeiDou program

On Sept. 23, the China BeiDou Application Conference and the Ninth Annual Conference of China Satellite Navigation and Location Services were held in Wuhan, according to a press release from haiwainet (People’s Daily), an official Communist Party newspaper of China.

Attending the conference were 700 experts, officials and entrepreneurs, as well as company representatives from BDStar Navigation, Amap, Allystar, Unistrong and Wuhan Exsun. “Delegates agreed that China’s BDS PNT (positioning, navigation and timing) industry has just started and is ushering in a golden decade of rapid growth,” the press release stated.

Zhou Xianwang, mayor of Wuhan, said that Wuhan, an important city for BDS construction and industrial development in China, is accelerating Beidou industry innovation, application promotion and enterprise development with first-class talents and services, and striving to make Wuhan a new highland for Beidou industry innovation and development.

Yu Xiancheng, president of the GNSS and LBS Association of China, said the Beidou industry in China has reached about $58.8 billion and the industrial ecology has taken shape.

According to the press release, “China’s Beidou is the first-class Beidou and the world’s Beidou as well. The application and space-time services of Beidou technology will become more popular in China and the world, ushering in a golden decade of development.”

BDS basic products have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, and Beidou-based land ownership confirmation, precision agriculture, digital construction and smart ports, etc. have been successfully applied in ASEAN, South Asia, Eastern Europe, West Asia and Africa.

September 25, 2020
China to lose access to Australia tracking station

China will lose access to a strategic space tracking station in Western Australia when its contract expires, a decision that could affect BeiDou constellation service in the Pacific region, according to a Reuters report.

A contract between the Swedish Space Corp. (SSC) and China has given Beijing access to a station antenna since 2011, but the SSC satellite station is primarily used by the United States and its agencies.

The Swedish state-owned company told Reuters it wouldn’t enter into any new contracts at the Australian site to support Chinese customers after its current contract expires, but did not disclose the exact date.

Ground stations are a vital part of space programs given they create a telecommunications link with spacecraft. While stations have different capabilities, they can be equipped to coordinate satellites for civil-military GNSS such as Beidou, Russia’s GLONASS, the European Union’s Galileo system, and U.S.-owned GPS.

China’s space program has been increasing its access to overseas ground stations in recent years in line with the expansion of its space exploration and navigational programs.

“Generally speaking, anywhere you put a GNSS monitoring ground station will improve the accuracy of positioning for that region,” said Joon Wayn Cheong, a senior research associate at the University of New South Wales’ School of Electrical Engineering.

China wants to remove its dependence on GPS as part of broader plans to expand its global influence, says Christopher Newman, professor of Space Law and Policy at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England. “GPS could be made unavailable to them in a military conflict. An independent secure system is crucial for the capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army [China’s military] with respect to targeting, weapons, navigation,” he told Reuters.

Beijing last year reestablished diplomatic ties with the small Pacific island nation of Kiribati, where it has a mothballed ground station.

Feature image: Pgiam/E+/Getty Images

September 22, 2020
Random recollections of GPS/GNSS

2000: An Allstar OEM receiver. (Photo: NovAtel)

GPS had been around for about five years before first launch in February 1978 and Full Operational Capability (FOC) was eventually declared in April 1995. It takes time to develop, field and prove something as complex as the world’s first satellite navigation system. But we’re now well into a third generation of the venerable GPS, with GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and IRNSS/NavIC and QZSS around the world and in geographic locales. So, putting aside Transit or anything else, this would make GPS about 47 years old — heading into middle age.

Therefore, it would seem that Glen Gibbons waited until “this GPS thingy” looked like it might actually work — circa 1990 — to launch GPS World, since the magazine is now 30 years old and is also into its third-generation of editor-custodians! Alan Cameron bravely carried the flag after Glen and nurtured the magazine for a good number of years and brought me into the fold as a contributor. We shared ION GNSS conventions and GPS World Leadership dinners and he was able to cajole monthly articles out of me for many years. Now Marty Whitford has his hand firmly on the tiller as publisher, with Tracy Cozzens as senior editor.

So what went down during these decades of technological advancement and for many of the people in the satnav industry? It would be impossible to answer within my word-limit, so I’ll take on an extremely small subset and recount a few things I can still remember.

µGPS. I got into GPS around 1990 in an OEM board-level product spin-off program from a certified GPS airborne receiver at CMC in Montreal — we initally called that L1 receiver µGPS because then it was a small GPS board. Later it became known as the AllStar receiver. We found pretty neat applications for the early ’90s — golf-course systems, vehicle tracking, airport vehicle tracking, the start of vehicle nav systems and such.

At NovAtel in Calgary in the early ’90s, we watched things develop through L1/L2 dual frequency, began RTK market applications in survey, geographic information systems (GIS), agriculture, mining and all multitudes of attempts to get new companies off the ground.

2013: NovAtel’s WAAS G-II reference receiver. (Photo: NovAtel)

WAAS. Eventually the U.S. Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) program came and swallowed us up through three different prime contractors. Once that Federal Aviation Administration program was running well, we were into programs in Europe, Japan, India and China, and that led into Galileo ground reference receivers. The software qualification work we did on Galileo positioned us to take on mil-spec receiver work, and even anti-jam products.

Then CMC bought NovAtel, and we also joined with CMC to develop a certified airborne receiver. In 2003, NovAtel bought the AllStar OEM product line from CMC — funny how things work out! The joint certified receiver program eventually resulted in a new generation of high-accuracy airborne sensors. We again changed hands in 2007 when Hexagon bought us, and then NovAtel began working closely with Hexagon subsidiary Leica on survey applications. Many new and interesting developments are still going on there.

Nowadays, my interests lie with assisted GNSS and with Rx Networks in Vancouver, which I support and advise. Assisted GNSS comes in many forms, has many avenues in the marketplace, and presents its own unique challenges.

As GPS has evolved into GNSS and into so many, many applications, companies have come and gone but the core of people who drive the industry has grown and acquired new and specialized skills, developing ever more capable technology and products. Even after 47 years of the industry and 30 years of GPS World, we aren’t anywhere close to done.

September 9, 2020
BeiDou a threat to the West, but perhaps not individuals

Recent completion of China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system has rekindled privacy and security concerns among some in the West. China has incorporated a two-way messaging capability into BeiDou that many fear will be used to track individuals and install malware on user devices.

Most satellite navigation experts view such concerns as far overblown.

At the same time, though little discussed, BeiDou’s completion does signal a new phase for China’s status as a world power and its ability to challenge the West on many fronts.

Two-way communications

It is possible for specially equipped receivers to communicate back to the BeiDou constellation. But this is not true for the vast majority of receivers (including those in cell phones). Industry experts say that all mass market chips for every GNSS system, including BeiDou, are “receive only.” Only specially equipped devices will be able to take advantage of its two-way communications capability, and it should be quite apparent to users when it is in operation.

Users, they say, should be much more concerned about location privacy and security issues that have been around for decades. Mobile phones have long reported user locations through the cellular network based upon information derived from GPS, WiFi ranging and other position calculations. The ability to hack and compromise a cell phone or other receiver will not be affected by the addition of BeiDou as a receive-only location source.

It is also important to note that using specialized equipment for two-way communication with a Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) is not something new to BeiDou. While the Chinese system may have improved upon the capability, users with the right equipment can send messages using the Search and Rescue functions to the United States’ GPS, Europe’s Galileo, and Russia’s GLONASS.

China has risen

Completion of BeiDou, unquestionably a significant technical achievement, does signal a significant step up for Chin’s status as a world power and influencer. It is a declaration of technical independence from the West with wide ranging geo-political impacts.

These were anticipated and summarized in a 2017 report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. It listed China’s goals for BeiDou as:

“(1) address national security requirements by ending military reliance on GPS;
(2) build a commercial downstream satellite navigation industry to take advantage of the quickly expanding market; and
(3) achieve domestic and international prestige by fielding one of only four such global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) yet developed”

Military Power and National Security. The Chinese military has long sought its own GNSS. This was amplified during a crisis in 1996 when it fired three missiles toward Taiwan as a warning. One struck the sea about 11 miles from a Taiwanese military base, but the other two disappeared. China claims that the United States interfered with GPS signals and was to blame. The Chinese military was both horrified and humiliated.

Having a sovereign GNSS eliminates the problem of relying on the U.S., Russia, or Europe for satellite navigation. That it is the world’s newest system also certainly has its advantages. China has undoubtedly incorporated state of the art anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities into the version of BeiDou used by the military. After decades of observing others interfering with GNSS signals, and doing a fair bit of it on their own, it would be hard to imagine Chinese engineers not including the latest resilience features.

An operational BeiDou also means that China’s military is much freer to interfere with GPS and other GNSS in pursuit of tactical and strategic advantage without endangering its own services and infrastructure. It is likely that the levels of jamming and spoofing seen near the Spratley Islands and mainland ports will increase. Even if they do not, the increased possibility of Chinese interference will add yet another degree of complexity and uncertainty for western military forces.

Economic Power. The technological and commercial benefits of BeiDou for China are unquestionably substantial as well. Direct benefit from the manufacture and sale of equipment, plus spinoff industries and technologies, add to an already impressive national technology and economic portfolio. This is especially true since positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services are a “silent utility” underpinning so many network and other technological systems. The huge domestic market and robust overseas sales continue to grow (by 20% per annum according to Chinese reports) providing huge returns.

Prestige and Soft Power. “BeiDou launch marks China’s rise to ‘major space power’” read a recent headline in the Asia Times. This is perhaps understated as, with BeiDou complete, there is, technologically, little the West has achieved that China has not equaled. This has greatly enhanced China’s global standing and made it, in the eyes of many in the developing world, an ally and provider as good or better than the U.S. or Europe.

And China is eager to share its new PNT utility with others to further, not just its economy, but more importantly its long-term strategic interests.

Forsaking GPS

Regionally, China has been encouraging neighbors to adopt BeiDou for national PNT and forsake GPS. As one example it provided Thailand with nearly $300M in foreign aid targeted to promoting BeiDou use by Thai government organizations.

Writing in July in The Diplomat, Dr. Namrata Goswami observed

“… BeiDou is located within China’s ‘Information Silk Road,’ a subset of its land and maritime silk routes under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China is now able to extend influence in a multidomain environment (land, sea and space) via its BeiDou space system, which provides navigation to aircraft, submarines, missiles, as well as commercial services dependent on such navigation. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology sells the Information Silk Road, to include BeiDou and 5G networks, to global audiences as a completely self-sufficient technology infrastructure that anticipates life in the 21st century.”

This extends China’s influence through BeiDou even farther and has led a number of nations to seek closer ties with China through BeiDou.

Mohamed Ben Amor, secretary general of the Tunisia-based Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization, an organization of the Arab League, told GPSDaily.com, “Cooperation on the BDS is of special significance for the Belt and Road construction…The next step of the China-Arab cooperation is to achieve further connectivity and both sides can apply the BDS to promote regional technological and economic development.”

Iran’s view

Iran has had a Memorandum of Understanding with China about BeiDou since 2015. It provides for BeiDou ground stations in Iran, access for Iran to high-precision services, and establishment of an Iranian center for space data collection.

And In a tweet last week Iran’s Ambassador to China cited BeiDou’s completion as the “…end to the monopoly of the U.S.’s GPS.” He said, “There is great potential for aerospace cooperation with China,” and went on to suggest that Iranian aerospace students could work as a bridge between the two countries.

Similar comments have been published from entities in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and throughout Southeast Asia.

China is indeed to be congratulated for a significant achievement with the completion of BeiDou. Even more noteworthy, though, is how it has integrated BeiDou seamlessly into its national plans for technology, economic, military and diplomatic efforts — a comprehensive, coordinated program to boost its standing in the world, especially relative to the United States and Europe.

Dana Goward is president of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation. He is the proprietor at Maritime Governance LLC. In August 2013, he retired from the federal Senior Executive Service, having served as the maritime navigation authority for the United States. As director of Marine Transportation Systems for the U.S. Coast Guard, he led 12 different navigation-related business lines budgeted at more than $1.3 billion per year. He has represented the U.S. at IMO, IALA, the UN anti-piracy working group and other international forums. A licensed helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, he has also served as a navigator at sea and is a retired Coast Guard Captain.

Photo: XinhuaNet

August 11, 2020
China completes BeiDou-3 worldwide navigation constellation

BeiDou constellation. (Image: BeiDou program)

China completed its worldwide BeiDou navigation satellite system with the launch of its final satellite on June 23, according to China Global Television Network.

The satellite launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:43 a.m. Beijing time (0143 GMT) on Tuesday, marking the completion of the country’s domestically developed BeiDou constellation.

The launch followed a delay of after originally being scheduled for July 16 because of a technical issue discovered in pre-flight tests.

The final satellite is a geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-3 system. It is the 30th BDS-3 satellite and the 55th BeiDou satellite. BDS-3 is a a 30-satellite navigation system.

BDS-3 offers high-precision positioning and short message communication.

Begun in 1994, BDS-1 was completed in 2000 to provide services to China. In 02012, BDS-2 was finished, and has provided navigation service to the Asia-Pacific region. Once the final satellite achieves orbit and is checked out successfully, BDS-3 will provide navigation services worldwide.

Screenshot: China Global Television Network

June 22, 2020
CHC Navigation’s GNSS receivers reach Everest peak

CHC Navigation’s P5 geodetic GNSS receiver was successfully used by a Chinese team of surveyors to complete the 2020 Mount Everest Elevation Survey.

This is the first time that a team of Chinese surveyors has climbed the summit of Mount Everest, and it is also the first time that BeiDou-based Chinese GNSS receivers have been used to measure the height of Mount Everest, known in China as Mount Qomolangma.

China’s National Geodetic Survey Team and its Mountaineer’s Team used CHCNAV GNSS receivers. (Photo: CHC Navigation)

The Everest Project

To promote research on the Mount Everest elevation and to ensure the scientific character and accuracy of measurements, the Ministry of Natural Resources mobilized the Shaanxi Bureau of Topography and Geographic Information Mapping from the Chinese Academy of Topography and Mapping to plan and implement the measurements of the Mount Everest elevation. China’s National Geodetic Survey Team and its Mountaineer’s Team would undertake the arduous climb.

The plan set out the technical guidelines and required that the Everest Elevation Project be designed to achieve innovative and technological breakthroughs in several areas of research.

The first is to use the BeiDou satellite navigation system to perform GNSS measurements; the second is to use Chinese surveying and mapping equipment to complete the task.

Meeting Harsh Challenges

In October 2019, CHCNAV received a request from the Ministry of Natural Resources to provide GNSS equipment for the 2020 Everest Elevation Project. A dedicated team combining different departments, from R&D to manufacturing, was set up. The team elaborated the specific technical requirements from the National Survey engineers, in particular the difficulties and challenges related to the altitude of Everest.

Measuring the height of Mount Everest, especially the summit, is a challenge, not only for the limitation of the human body in such elevation environment, but also for the performance of the GNSS receiver itself.

At over 8,800 meters, the minimum temperature can reach -45°C and the atmospheric pressure is only 30 kPa (compared to the normal 101 kPa). All the surveying equipment used is exposed to both low temperature and low-pressure constraints.

In addition, the operation of the instruments must be as simple and reliable as possible in such an extreme environment. Surveyors wear thick winter clothing and lack oxygen, making every movement an extreme challenge. Finally, the measurement of the mountain peak must be completed at the first attempt, as re-measurement is impossible.

CHCNAV’s P5 geodetic GNSS receiver. (Photo: CHC Navigation)

Rugged Solution

To meet these stringent requirements, CHCNAV has provided GNSS receivers that have passed the most rigorous environmental and reliability tests. The entire solution, from the GNSS receivers to the accessories, has been optimized to ensure mission success from the very beginning.

A wide temperature range of material — supporting an operating temperature range of –45°C to +85°C — were used, including redesigned lithium-ion batteries offering 12 hours of operation even at extremely low temperatures. Also used were antenna cables with a specific compound material to avoid any cracking or signal attenuation.

To ensure reliable operation of the receivers in a low-pressure environment, the GNSS receivers have built-in waterproof and breathable valves to maintain internal and external pressures. The low-pressure tests replicated a 25-kPa environment, corresponding to an altitude of 10,000 meters.

Additional ruggedized reinforcement prevented damage in the event of accidental receiver drop thanks to a robust design to keep the display and connectors safe. Following CHCNAV tests, third-party organizations were commissioned to perform environmental testing and reliability verification, including storage and operating at high/low temperatures, vibration, shock, rain, dust, humid heat, salt and fog.

From November 2019 to March 2020, CHCNAV’s GNSS equipment was supplied to the National Photoelectric Rangefinder Testing Center — under the requirements of the China Academy of Surveying and Mapping — for the most rigorous evaluation. As a result, the company’s GNSS receivers were selected to provide the peak altitude measurements of Everest in 2020.

The climb to the summit. (Photo: CHC Navigation)

Reaching the Summit

On April 5, 2020, at the Everest Elevation Survey Expedition Ceremony in Lhasa, CHCNAV officially donated GNSS equipment to the National Survey Team. Both product and technical training was provided to the team.

The 53 members of the first National Survey Team overcame the difficulties related to the environment, bad weather and the additional impact of COVID-19, and conducted a series of measurements on Mount Everest and surrounding areas such as level, gravity and GNSS.

Thirty of the 60 points of the GNSS control network were measured with CHCNAV GNSS receivers, including three of the seven Everest elevation intersection points.

On May 27, the CHCNAV GNSS receivers finally reached the summit and successfully completed the task.

The successful achievement of the Everest elevation measurement reflects the performance of the Chinese surveying and mapping industry, confirms BeiDou as a major part of the GNSS systems, and demonstrates the technical success of CHCNAV as a major player in the GNSS industry.

About CHC Navigation

Founded in 2003, CHC Navigation is a publicly listed company creating innovative GNSS navigation and positioning solutions. With a global presence across the world, distributors in more than 100 countries, and more than 1,300 employees, CHC Navigation is today recognized as one of the fastest-growing company in geomatics technologies.

May 27, 2020
Seen + Heard: Quantum entanglement, robot dog, reversing earthquakes

“Seen & Heard” is a monthly feature of GPS World magazine, traveling the world to capture interesting and unusual news stories involving the GNSS/PNT industry.

Photo: Mt. Qomolangma/miljko /E+/Getty Images

Chinese surveyors take BeiDou to the top

On May 6, more than 30 Chinese surveyors left base camp to summit Mount Qomolangma — known in the west as Mount Everest. The team is using both traditional and modern surveying and mapping technologies, and China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) will be applied to the elevation survey for the first time. The previous survey in 2005 used GPS to measure the height (found to be 8,844.43 meters); this year’s survey uses all four GNSS, with BDS data as the main reference.

Image: BlackJack3D/E+/Getty Images

Quantum entanglement

In a paper published April 20 in Physical Review Letters, University of Arizona engineering and optical sciences researchers, in collaboration with engineers from General Dynamics Mission Systems, demonstrate how a combination of two techniques — radio frequency photonics sensing and quantum metrology — can give sensor networks a previously unheard-of level of precision. The work involves transferring information from electrons to photons, then using quantum entanglement to increase the photons’ sensing capabilities. The quantum-sensing paradigm could create opportunities to improve GPS receivers, astronomy laboratories and biomedical imaging capabilities, as well as improve the performance of any application that requires a network of sensors.

Photo: 2010 Chile Earthquake/erlucho/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Earthquake reversal

Researchers evaluating movement of GNSS ground stations have discovered large-scale, back-and-forth ground movement preceding the 2010 seaquake off of Chile and the 2011 Tohoku-oki seaquake off of Japan. Researchers from the Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ) with collaborators from Chile and the United States say both quakes showed multiple strange reversals of ground motion — an extremely slow “wobbling” of the continental plate — over a period of five months (for Japan) and seven months (for Chile). The discovery was made possible by the amount of data collected by the GNSS stations in both countries.

Dogbot on patrol

A robot dog from U.S.-based Boston Dynamics reminded visitors to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in Singapore to maintain social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, reported the BBC in May. The dogbot is fitted with lidar to monitor how busy the park becomes. It also carried a loudspeaker to broadcast social-distancing messages.

May 26, 2020
1 more BeiDou satellite starts operation in constellation

Photo: Xinhua News Agency

The 45th satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System — launched on May 17, 2019 — has started operation in the network after completing in-orbit tests, reports China’s Xinhua news service.

The satellite will provide services in place of the third BeiDou satellite, a geostationary earth orbit satellite of the BDS-2 system, according to China’s Satellite Navigation System Management Office.

The replacement will help reinforce the BDS-2 system and support a smooth transition from the BDS-2 system to the BDS-3 system. The third satellite — launched Jan. 17, 2010 — will stay in orbit after the replacement.

May 19, 2020
Skycatch system provides in-the-field UAV maps

The Edge1 system by Skycatch is a combination GNSS base station and drone data-processing unit that delivers high-accuracy maps and point clouds in minutes.

The high-performance built-in Nvidia TX2 Mobile GPU enables both maps and point-cloud processing locally within 30 minutes, as well as running artificial intelligence (AI) tasks in real time.

The base station of the Edge1 uses a Swift Navigation dual-frequency GNSS real-time kinematic (RTK) receiver. The receiver supports signals from GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou and Galileo, enabling reliably fast centimeter-level accuracy globally even in remote locations, with reliable 5-centimeter accuracy.

Users of the Edge1 system can process and receive their maps in the field, without the need for internet connectivity to process data. The system automatically generates 2D maps and 3D data, with the capability to download and use them in Skycatch’s Data Hub, as well as commonly used programs like Civil 3D, BIM360 and others.

April 1, 2020
China adds to BeiDou as satnav service helps fight coronavirus

China successfully launched the penultimate Beidou navigation satellite on March 9. An official Xinhuanet news release has not yet been issued, but CGTN — a television station partially funded by the Chinese government — posted a video of the launch.

China launched the new satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 19:55 Monday (Beijing Time), paving the way for its completion and full global coverage in May.

The Long March 3B/E rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 7:55 a.m. ET. The Beidou GEO-2 satellite was sent into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

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Coronavirus Fight

China has touted the BeiDou constellation’s role in helping the country fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic with high precision from space.

“When China was building the two makeshift hospitals — Huoshenshan (Fire God Mountain) and Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic — equipment based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) provided high-precision positioning service and accelerated the construction,” stated a press release from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).

Drones based on the BDS have been utilized to spray disinfectant, according to the press release. Police in Ruichang, east China’s Jiangxi Province, used BDS-based drones to patrol crowded places to prevent intensive contact between people.

China’s Ministry of Transport sent epidemic prevention and transportation service information to more than 6 million vehicles via the BDS terminals, and provided services for the transportation of emergency materials to the areas most affected by the epidemic.

China Post Group Co. Ltd. has installed 5,000 BDS terminals on its trunk line vehicles, and used the vehicle positioning information to conduct real-time supervision and allocation, so as to ensure timely delivery of epidemic prevention materials.

In Wuhan, the BDS-based robots of the e-commerce and logistics company JD.com delivered medical materials to hospital isolation areas with high speed.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012.

Over the past two years, China has successfully sent 28 BDS-3 satellites and two BDS-2 satellites into orbit.

With the system’s upgraded intelligent operation and maintenance capabilities, the BDS-3 has provided stable and accurate services, boasting a positioning accuracy of better than five meters.

China plans to launch more BDS satellites in March and May to complete the global network.

March 10, 2020