China launched its second “Compass” (also known as Beidou 2) satellite on April 15 as part of a constellation of up to 30 satellites which will form the country’s own GPS network..

Successful Launch

The satellite was launched from the Xichang Launch Centre, located in the southwest Sichuan province aboard a Long March 3 launcher.

China intends to launch the complete constellation by 2015 and another 10 satellites by the end of 2010.  The system is designed to provide  support for telecommunications, public security services, meteorological, prospecting, disaster recovery and petroleum exploration.

It is expected to rival the US developed GPS system, Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (Glosnass), and the European Union’s “Galileo” system.

The first Compass satellite was launched in 2007, but prior to that, in 2000, China deployed the Beidou-1 navigation system. This was a first generation  S band system which provided ranging information via a neighbouring geostationary satellite. The system was restricted in coverage to East Asia.