Beidou navigation system
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Beidou opened service to Asia-Pacific civilians on Dec 27, 2012
Beidou helps put region on the map
By Xin Dingding and Cheng Yingqi
BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) --The Beidou navigation system began providing services for civilians in the Asia-Pacific region on Thursday.
After going through a one-year trial operation and adding six more satellites in 2012, Beidou, in terms of performance, is "comparable" to the United States' GPS, Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, told a news conference on Thursday.
Beidou, which means compass, now has a constellation of 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites.
"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," Ran said.
Its positioning accuracy has also improved, from 25 meters horizontally and 30 meters vertically at the beginning of the trial operation to the current 10 meters both horizontally and vertically, he said.
But in a GPS-dominated market, Beidou needs enterprises to participate in the development of applications for the system. A number of foreign companies have already shown an interest.
Its website (北斗网) ran both Chinese and English versions of a document that specifies signal-interface relations between the Beidou system and receivers.
Cao Hongjie, vice-president of Beijing UniStrong Science and Technology, which makes navigational products, said the publishing of the document means "domestic companies that have tried to develop Beidou applications for almost a decade will now face competition with foreign companies".
"Many US companies have been waiting for the document," he said.
Some sent e-mails saying they will soon come up with products that are compatible with the Beidou system, once the document was published.
"China is a big market for navigation products, which is attractive to them," he said.
The total output of China's navigation service sector will top 120 billion yuan ($19.2 billion) in 2012, and is estimated to reach 500 billion yuan in 2020.
Cao said he believed that domestic companies may struggle to compete with US counterparts in the pricing of navigation products and will lose majority market share to foreign products in the short term.
"But Beidou-based industries cannot grow really big without the participation of foreign players," he said. "When this market becomes really big, domestic companies, even with a small share, will also benefit."
GPS is the dominant player, but Ran estimated that the Beidou system will hold 15 to 20 percent of market share in China by 2015.
Users will probably opt for equipment that is compatible with multiple navigation systems and will no longer rely on a single service, Ran said. If this occurs, Beidou could take 70 to 80 percent of the market by 2020, he added.
The system will eventually provide navigation, positioning and timing services that cover the world, Ran said.
He cited industry research claiming that the global satellite navigation industry is estimated to be worth $500 billion by 2020.
Though there is no plan to launch Beidou satellites next year, China will launch about 40 Beidou satellites in the 10 years from 2014, he said.
Yang Hui, chief designer of Beidou navigation satellites, said the satellites will have a longer lifespan and other improvements.
"The current navigation satellite has a life of eight years, and we will increase it to 12 in the next phase," she said.
There are four major global navigation systems: Beidou, GPS, Russia's Glonass and the European Union's Galileo.
China launched the first Beidou navigation experiment satellite in 2000. Four experiment satellites were launched between 2000 and February 2007.
The preliminary version of the system has been used in traffic control, weather forecasting and disaster relief on a trial basis since 2003. Starting 2007, China launched 16 navigation satellites.
(Source:China Daily)
Beidou helps put region on the map
By Xin Dingding and Cheng Yingqi
BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) --The Beidou navigation system began providing services for civilians in the Asia-Pacific region on Thursday.
After going through a one-year trial operation and adding six more satellites in 2012, Beidou, in terms of performance, is "comparable" to the United States' GPS, Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, told a news conference on Thursday.
Beidou, which means compass, now has a constellation of 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites.
"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," Ran said.
Its positioning accuracy has also improved, from 25 meters horizontally and 30 meters vertically at the beginning of the trial operation to the current 10 meters both horizontally and vertically, he said.
But in a GPS-dominated market, Beidou needs enterprises to participate in the development of applications for the system. A number of foreign companies have already shown an interest.
Its website (北斗网) ran both Chinese and English versions of a document that specifies signal-interface relations between the Beidou system and receivers.
Cao Hongjie, vice-president of Beijing UniStrong Science and Technology, which makes navigational products, said the publishing of the document means "domestic companies that have tried to develop Beidou applications for almost a decade will now face competition with foreign companies".
"Many US companies have been waiting for the document," he said.
Some sent e-mails saying they will soon come up with products that are compatible with the Beidou system, once the document was published.
"China is a big market for navigation products, which is attractive to them," he said.
The total output of China's navigation service sector will top 120 billion yuan ($19.2 billion) in 2012, and is estimated to reach 500 billion yuan in 2020.
Cao said he believed that domestic companies may struggle to compete with US counterparts in the pricing of navigation products and will lose majority market share to foreign products in the short term.
"But Beidou-based industries cannot grow really big without the participation of foreign players," he said. "When this market becomes really big, domestic companies, even with a small share, will also benefit."
GPS is the dominant player, but Ran estimated that the Beidou system will hold 15 to 20 percent of market share in China by 2015.
Users will probably opt for equipment that is compatible with multiple navigation systems and will no longer rely on a single service, Ran said. If this occurs, Beidou could take 70 to 80 percent of the market by 2020, he added.
The system will eventually provide navigation, positioning and timing services that cover the world, Ran said.
He cited industry research claiming that the global satellite navigation industry is estimated to be worth $500 billion by 2020.
Though there is no plan to launch Beidou satellites next year, China will launch about 40 Beidou satellites in the 10 years from 2014, he said.
Yang Hui, chief designer of Beidou navigation satellites, said the satellites will have a longer lifespan and other improvements.
"The current navigation satellite has a life of eight years, and we will increase it to 12 in the next phase," she said.
There are four major global navigation systems: Beidou, GPS, Russia's Glonass and the European Union's Galileo.
China launched the first Beidou navigation experiment satellite in 2000. Four experiment satellites were launched between 2000 and February 2007.
The preliminary version of the system has been used in traffic control, weather forecasting and disaster relief on a trial basis since 2003. Starting 2007, China launched 16 navigation satellites.
(Source:China Daily)
Re: PLA border patrol in Guangxi using beidou handheld unit
This picture shows the first generation Beidou handheld unit
Guangxi border patrol force has been equipped with the second generation Beidou handheld unit. It is smaller than the first gen, and more powerful,
Our 16 beidou satellites are covering the whole Asian-pacific region now.
This picture shows the first generation Beidou handheld unit
BeiDou navigation system goes live - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn
Link to Video report in English
Link to Video report in English
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China Offers GPS Rival Across Asia-Pacific
China has opened up its domestic satellite navigation network, a rival to the American GPS, across the Asia-Pacific region.
The Beidou system started providing services to civilians in the region on Thursday and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020, state media reported.
China began building the network in 2000, to avoid relying on the global positioning system or GPS. It comprises 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites.
Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, said the system's performance was "comparable" to GPS, the China Daily said.
"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," he said.
It is the latest accomplishment in space technology for China, which aims to build a space station by the end of the decade and eventually send a manned mission to the moon.
China sees the multi-billion-dollar programme as a symbol of its rising global stature and growing technical expertise.
The start of commercial services comes a year after Beidou - which literally means the Big Dipper in Chinese - began a limited positioning service for China and adjacent areas.
Mr Ran added that the system would ultimately provide global navigation, positioning and timing services.
"Having a satellite navigation system is of great strategic significance," the Global Times newspaper, which has links to the Communist Party, said in an editorial.
"China has a large market, where the Beidou system can benefit both the military and civilians," the paper said.
"With increases in profit, the Beidou system will be able to eventually develop into a global navigation satellite system which can compete with GPS."
In a separate report, the paper said satellite navigation was seen as one of China's "strategic emerging industries".
Sun Jiadong, the system's chief engineer, told the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper that as Beidou matures it will erode GPS's current 95% market share in China, the Global Times said.
Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Sydney, Australia, said that making significant inroads into that dominance anywhere outside China is unlikely.
"GPS is freely available, highly accessed and is well-known and trusted by the world at large," he told the AFP news agency. "It has brand recognition and has successfully fought off other challenges."
Mr Jones described any commercial benefits China gains as "icing on the cake" and that the main reason for developing Beidou is to protect its own national security given the possibility US-controlled GPS could be cut off.
China has opened up its domestic satellite navigation network, a rival to the American GPS, across the Asia-Pacific region.
The Beidou system started providing services to civilians in the region on Thursday and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020, state media reported.
China began building the network in 2000, to avoid relying on the global positioning system or GPS. It comprises 16 navigation satellites and four experimental satellites.
Ran Chengqi, spokesman for the China Satellite Navigation Office, said the system's performance was "comparable" to GPS, the China Daily said.
"Signals from Beidou can be received in countries such as Australia," he said.
It is the latest accomplishment in space technology for China, which aims to build a space station by the end of the decade and eventually send a manned mission to the moon.
China sees the multi-billion-dollar programme as a symbol of its rising global stature and growing technical expertise.
The start of commercial services comes a year after Beidou - which literally means the Big Dipper in Chinese - began a limited positioning service for China and adjacent areas.
Mr Ran added that the system would ultimately provide global navigation, positioning and timing services.
"Having a satellite navigation system is of great strategic significance," the Global Times newspaper, which has links to the Communist Party, said in an editorial.
"China has a large market, where the Beidou system can benefit both the military and civilians," the paper said.
"With increases in profit, the Beidou system will be able to eventually develop into a global navigation satellite system which can compete with GPS."
In a separate report, the paper said satellite navigation was seen as one of China's "strategic emerging industries".
Sun Jiadong, the system's chief engineer, told the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper that as Beidou matures it will erode GPS's current 95% market share in China, the Global Times said.
Morris Jones, an independent space analyst based in Sydney, Australia, said that making significant inroads into that dominance anywhere outside China is unlikely.
"GPS is freely available, highly accessed and is well-known and trusted by the world at large," he told the AFP news agency. "It has brand recognition and has successfully fought off other challenges."
Mr Jones described any commercial benefits China gains as "icing on the cake" and that the main reason for developing Beidou is to protect its own national security given the possibility US-controlled GPS could be cut off.
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