China will launch two backup satellites for BeiDou-2 in next two years to improve its performance.

Backup satellites ensure the continuous stable operations of the system, said Ran Chengqi of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, at the Ninth China Satellite Navigation Conference in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

BeiDou-2 has been in use for five and a half years. It is generally in stable and has never been out of service. The positioning accuracy improved from ten to six meters.

BeiDou-2 uses 14 navigation satellites, offering positioning, timing and SMS to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

BeiDou-2 system is scheduled to provide navigation services until November this year and by October of 2020, the service will be performed by both BeiDou-2 and BeiDou-3.

The first two BeiDou-3 satellites were launched in November 2017.

Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper, the BeiDou project was formally initiated in 1994. It began to serve China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2012.

By around 2020, when the BeiDou system goes global, it will have more than 30 satellites.

Source: Xinhua News

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China to launch another 11 BeiDou-3 satellites in 2018
Harbin (XNA) May 25, 2018
China will launch another 11 BeiDou-3 satellites by the end of 2018, adding to its domestic BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), said an official at an academic conference on Wednesday. China has already launched eight BeiDou-3 satellites. The satellites will provide initial services for countries and regions along the Belt and Road by the end of the year, said Wang Li, chairman of China Satellite Navigation System Committee. Addressing the Ninth China Satellite Navigation Conference in ... read more