Beijing: China has launched successfully a satellite, the 10th one for its indigenous global navigation and positioning network known as Beidou to rival the American Global Position System (GPS) and Russian GLONASS. The system will also end China’s dependence on US GPS system.
The satellite was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern Sichuan province and with this the basic structure of the Beidou system has now been established, and engineers are now conducting comprehensive system test and evaluation, said authorities.
More satellites will be launched before the end of 2012 for the Beidou network, and its coverage area will be expanded with upgraded services.
The global satellite positioning and navigation system (Beidou) was started in 2000 and will be completed in 2020 with 30 satellites orbiting the earth.
