The launch of the last satellite of China’s domestically developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or BDS, which took place amid global efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, is a hard-won achievement by China, according to Yang Changfeng, the system’s chief architect.

A carrier rocket carrying the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 23, 2020. (Photo by Hu Xujie/Xinhua)

Since the first BDS-3 satellite was launched in November 2017, China has conducted 18 BDS satellite launch missions. Over 400 organizations and institutions and more than 300,000 scientific personnel took part in the launches. The Long March-3A rocket series and the Xichang Satellite Launch Center also contributed a great deal to the launch success, Yang said.

This year will mark the completion of the Beidou network, and BDS satellites are expected to provide high-precision positioning services for global users, Yang explained.

China has creatively adopted mixed space constellation with three different orbits to provide services for a certain region with a minimum amount of satellites. In addition, while serving global users, the Beidou satellites will produce huge profits in engineering projects, Yang disclosed.

The first task after the completion of the Beidou network is guaranteeing the stability of the system, Yang said. To this end, while following standardized practices, the engineers will improve intelligent operation and maintenance of the system, which will enable it to better identify and cope with risks.

The second task is to allow the Beidou network to better serve national construction, economic development, and improving people’s livelihood. In order to do this, supervisory departments of various industries should formulate policies and rules, improve standards, and establish product catalogs to launch more applications of the Beidou system, Yang said.