China’s BeiDou navigation system starts global service

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has started to provide global service, said BDS Spokesperson Ran Chengqi on Thursday.

At a press conference of the State Council Information Office, Ran said the construction of the BDS-3 primary system had been completed.

This signifies that BDS has officially entered the global era as the BDS expands from a regional system to a global navigation system, Ran said.

From now on, no matter where you go, BDS will always be with you, said Ran.

The positioning accuracy of the system has reached 10 meters globally and five meters in the Asia-Pacific region. Its velocity accuracy is 0.2 meters per second, while its timing accuracy stands at 20 nanoseconds, according to Ran.

By the end of 2018, there were a total of 33 BDS satellites operating in orbit, including 15 BDS-2 satellites and 18 BDS-3 satellites.

China plans to launch another 11 BDS-3 satellites and one BDS-2 satellite in the coming two years to form the complete global network, which will further enhance the global service performance, Ran said.