China Launches Second Compass Satellite

April 15, 2009

The Chinese news agency Xinhua reports the successful launch on April 14 of a second Beidou/Compass global navigation satellite, destined for geostationary orbit along the equator at an altitude of about 22,300 miles.

The COMPASS-G2 satellite, currently in elliptical transfer orbit, has been characterized as a “second generation” of Beidou/Compass, representing a transition from a regional satellite navigation system, for which four test satellites were previously launched, to a global concept.

Photo credit: Xinhua News Agency

China launched its first second-generation Compass satellite into medium-altitude orbit in April 2007. Compass G2 is the first geostationary satellite of the group.

The planned second-generation navigation fleet will eventually include more than 30 satellites in both geostationary and medium-altitude orbits. China claims it may add as many as 10 more spacecraft to the global constellation by the end of 2010, with a goal of filling out a constellation of 30 by 2015.

Officials in China say the system will provide global navigation coverage, “supplanting the U.S. Global Positioning System in Chinese cars, cell phones, and other commercial applications.” Among such other applications, they cite transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest-fire monitoring, disaster response, telecommunications, and public security.

China seeks to build its own space infrastructure, “independent from foreign technology,” to provide critical navigation and positioning services, and bring significant social and economic benefits, according to official statements. The system will also offer "safer" positioning, velocity, and timing communications for authorized users, among which the Chinese military is sure to be paramount.

Conflicts over Spectrum. Interoperability of the new Compass system with other GNSS operated or in development by the United States, Europe, and Russia remains an open question, although negotiations proceed along several levels. Particularly sticky is an impasse between Europe’s Galileo and Compass over use of a specified spectrum band.

At the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in March, Yin Jun, the director of European affairs within China’s Ministry of Space and Technology, stated that “we have made no concrete progress” in resolving differences between the two systems, but held out “hope for results at our next meeting in June.”

Southwest Rising. The Compass G2 satellite blasted off at 1616 GMT (12:16 p.m. EDT) from the Xichang launch base in central/southwest China's Sichuan province. It was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

Earlier this year, China announced the founding of Shenzhen Aerospace Spacesat Co. Ltd., which may build some or all of the future Compass satellites. The enterprise, located in Shenzen, just outside Hong Kong on the coast of the South China Sea, is expected to develop six to eight types of satellites and produce four to five satellites every year. The satellites will be used for global navigation, telecommunications, remote sensing, and space exploration.

Photo credit: Xinhua News Agency

The enterprise forms part of an overall vision for a research, development, and manufacturing base for the aerospace industry in Shenzhen. A research institute subordinate to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the main contractor for the Chinese space programs, will also move into the base in Shenzhen.

Bookmark it: digg propeller del.icio.us technorati yahoo facebook

Add Comment