China successfully launched its third (3rd) Compass/Beidou satellite into geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan province at about 0:12 a.m. Beijing Time on Sunday, January 17, 2010 with Chinese officials reasserting plans to complete an initial regional system by 2012 and a complete 35-satellite constellation by 2020 [Inside GNSS].
China's Compass, Russia's Glonass, and Europe's Galileo are each independent satellite navigational systems similar but not yet as developed as compared to the United States NavStar GPS. The systems have significant military and commercial applications. There are discussions about inoperatability of the systems in the years ahead. Combined the United States, Russia, Europe and China will soon have over 100 navigational satellites in orbit around the Earth adding even greater precision to future seamless receivers.
There is active research and development of a LunarGPS system by the United States called Lunar Astronaut Spatial Orientation and Information System (LASOIS). No deployment date has been set at this time but it expected prior to 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment