The Center has been performing the satellite health assessments and drawing radar maps for all the orbiting BeiDou satellites since the end of 2018, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The overall goal is to support maintenance of the constellation and raise management capacity.

The BeiDou constellation started service in 2000 with the BDS-1 satellites and now comprises nearly 40 satellites including 21 of the new BDS-3 spacecraft, according to reports by Xinhua. With a total of 10 satellites set for launch in 2019,

the constellation is expected to be completed next year.

Related Reading: Latest Satellite Launch Expands BeiDou Constellation

The data service system used for the health check was internally developed, Xinhua said. The system improves the efficiency of data analysis, laying a foundation for system diagnosis and prediction as well as enabling the health checks of on-orbit hardware.

The Xi’an Satellite Control Center is based in northwest China’s city of Xi’an and is the country’s only modern satellite control center. The facility handles regular satellite measurement and control as well as long-term management of in-orbit spacecraft.

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The satellite was sent to the inclined geosynchronous earth orbit and is the 46th satellite of the BDS satellite family and the 21st satellite of the BDS-3 system. The design of the BDS constellation is unique, including medium earth orbit (MEO), geostationary earth orbit (GEO) and inclined geosynchronous earth orbit (IGEO) satellites.

Currently there are 18 MEO BDS-3 satellites, one GEO BDS-3 satellite, and two IGEO BDS-3 satellites sent into space.

After in-orbit tests, the new satellite will work with those BDS satellites already in orbit to improve the coverage and positioning accuracy of the system, Xinhau stated. The new satellite and the carrier rocket were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Related reading: China Launches New Satellite as BeiDou Network Aims to Rival GPS

This latest launch marks the 307th mission for the Long March series of carrier rockets.

China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012.

The positioning accuracy of the system reached 10 meters globally and five meters in the Asia-Pacific Region as the system started to provide global service at the end of last year, according to Yang Changfeng, chief designer of BDS. The recent and planned launches will help complete the BDS global network by 2020.

BeiDou-3 satellites form the third phase of construction of the BeiDou system, which expands service coverage from regional to global. These new satellites also adopt inter-satellite link capabilities, new-generation rubidium atomic clocks and passive hydrogen maser clocks. Additionally, China has also established a continuous global monitoring and evaluation system for BeiDou with more than 20 ground stations across the world.

The system has been applied in many industries including transport, maritime affairs, electricity, civil affairs, meteorology, fishery, surveying and mapping, mining and public security.

BeiDou has also been widely used around the world, including with building construction in Kuwait, precision agriculture in Myanmar, land survey and mapping in Uganda, and warehousing and logistics in Thailand.

To enable BDS to better serve the economic and social development in Belt and Road countries and regions, China has established BDS cooperation mechanisms with countries and organizations in South Asia, Central Asia, ASEAN, the Arab League and Africa, strengthening technical exchanges and personnel training, and building BDS overseas centers.

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Launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, the satellites are 42nd and 43rd in the BeiDou constellation. The successful launch marks that the basic BDS-3 constellation has successfully been deployed. Networking of the constellation and assessment on its performances will be carried out in the near future.

The twin Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites entered the designated orbit about three hours after their launch.

“The basic BDS-3 constellation has been completed, marking a milestone for the Chinese BeiDou to go truly global,” Yang Changfeng, chief architect of BeiDou, said at a press event on Sunday in Xichang.

“BDS will reach worldwide coverage after the Monday launch with an enhanced accuracy of between 2.5 meters and five meters, and it will provide service that is twice as good as the previous BDS-2, without even being noticed by the users,” Yang said.

Related Reading: BeiDou’s Progress Continues with China’s Latest Launch of Twin BeiDou-3 Satellites

Since November 5, 2017 there have been 19 launches of BDS-3 satellites, with the shortest intervals between launches being only 17 days, said Yang, noting the intensive launch efforts that have taken place in the past 12 months. 

Such an intensive launch schedule is unprecedented in China’s space history, Wang Ping, chief designer of BDS-3 family of satellites, told the Global Times.

To achieve the goal, Chinese engineers and scientists have been planning and working accordingly round the clock since 2015, and broken the old tradition of “producing one and examining one,” as the BDS-3 satellites and their components are in fact produced through a mass manufacturing but in a more scientific mode, Wang noted.

The Monday BDS-3 mission was the Xichang Satellite Launch Center’s 15th of the year, and the center is expected to perform two more by the end of the year, Wu Chengde, deputy director of the political department at the launch center, according to published reports. The previous number of launches from the center was nine in one year, said Wu.

Plans are for the BeiDou-3 constellation to be put into operation before the end of this year, to provide basic navigation services to countries and regions participating the Belt and Road initiative, which will be a key milestone for BDS in expanding service areas from regional to global.

Yang also said that China is planning to launch 11 additional BDS-3 satellites including six MEO satellites, three Inclined Geosynchronous Orbit (IGO) satellites and two geostationary satellites, over the next two years.

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