BEIJING: China’s homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been operating smoothly and providing stable quality services to global users since its official launch last summer.
According to the China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO), the service capability of BDS is now first-class in the world.
China officially commissioned BDS on July 31, 2020, opening the new BDS-3 system to global users.
Along with positioning, navigation and timing services, the BDS system can provide a variety of value-added services like global search and rescue assistance, short message communication, ground- and satellite-based augmentation, as well as precise point positioning.
Meanwhile, BDS is serving diversified industries, generating profits for mass consumer products and becoming increasingly integrated into people’s lives.
Based on real-time test results, the BDS’s positioning, velocity measurement, timing accuracy, and its service availability and continuity all meet requirements, according to the CSNO.
The special functions of BDS, such as short message communication, have also been put into service, according to the office.
Both the regional and global short message communication services are now open to both the public and users in various fields.
For example, its satellite-based augmentation function is now providing trial services to users with high integrity requirements, such as those in the civil aviation, maritime and railway sectors.
Meanwhile, the high-precision single-point positioning function is being used in such fields as precision agriculture, land survey and automatic driving.
The BDS is now serving the world, operating alongside three other systems: GPS of the United States; Galileo of the European Union; and GLONASS of Russia. The China-developed chips, modules and other key technologies supporting BDS have made comprehensive breakthroughs and been applied in diversified industries, with performance indexes equivalent to global peers.
So far, the key BeiDou-related products have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions. – Agencies
