China looks to extend their navigation network by three to four more satellites this upcoming year. They have had immense success with their navigational systems that were previously implemented. The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System or BDS has been operating since the early 2000s. The chief designer, Yang Changfeng, believes that the Satellite System will be complete by 2020.
Since it’s origin, BDS has remained unique to China but the corporation is looking to extend globally. On March 30, the seventeenth satellite was added to the orbiting network. This addition allows BDS to approach their goal. The global network would consist of thirty-five satellites, so BieDou is well on their way to worldwide recognition.
The newest satellite has advanced technology that increases its useful life to around ten or twelve years instead of eight. According to Yang, there is also increased accuracy with the current satellites. These systems are used for information on things such as transportation, fishing and forecasts. The leading-edge developments in technology can be attributed to Shanghai Engineering Center for Micro-satellites. Other countries will look to commandeer these advancements.
Source:http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-04/01/content_19971277.htm
What kind of information do these satellites collect? Simply images, or is more data being collected?
They’re GPS satellites, not data collectors.
It will be interesting to see if Chinese Government will also take advantage of these improvements in order to improve their military? I think this would be quite useful and practical, also given the nature of Chinese businesses and the relationship to the government I would not be surprised if there were a lot of new satellites with this improved attributes being launched in the near future.
For obvious reasons, users now dependent on GPS are worried that the US might “lock down” their systems. While you may need a license to buy it, the best system that one local Rockbridge Country surveyor uses is good to approximately 1/4″. He still has to use a transit to get the foundation of a building level, and to see that an addition to a large building will align — but for marking the boundaries of a piece of property, his portable high-end GPS system is sufficient.
Anyway, China is not the only country to launch its own navigation satellites.