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BeiDou Services
| COMPASS | |
|---|---|
| Title | BeiDou Services |
| Author(s) | GMV. |
| Level | Basic |
| Year of Publication | 2011 |
The Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS), also named BeiDou-2, is China’s second-generation satellite navigation system capable of providing positioning, navigation, and timing services to users on a continuous worldwide basis.
On November 2, 2006, China announced the 2nd generation Chinese navigation system, COMPASS[1]. The system is currently under development evolving from a regional system called BeiDou-1, and in the first phase will provide high-accuracy positioning services for users in China and its neighbouring regions. As of April 2011, eight satellites for Compass have been launched. According to an official report[2], " the eighth Beidou/Compass satellite marks the completion of basic function of Beidou (Compass) Navigation Satellite System " .
The long-term goal is to develop an independent global navigation satellite system similar to the GPS and GLONASS.[3]
COMPASS Services
By April 2011, the initial phase of COMPASS system has been completed with a constellation of 4 GEO satellites and 3 IGSO satellites. During 2011, the system is going to launch another 4 Beidou Navigation Satellites, providing for the whole Asia-Pacific region:[4]
- initial passive positioning navigation;
- timing service;
- and short message communication (120 Chinese characters per message) service.
The aim of the first phase (completion expected by end of 2012) is to provide two types of services:[4]
- Open service: a free service for civilian users with positioning accuracy of within 10 metres, velocity accuracy of within 0.2 m/s and timing accuracy of within 20 nanoseconds;
- Authorized service:a licensed service with higher accuracy even in complex situations for authorised and military users only.
Although in this first phase the system will only cover China and its neighbouring countries, the Compass system is scheduled to extend into a global navigation system by 2020, this implies a continuous improvement of performances around the world in order to provide a global, free, high quality, reliable service, and continue to improve performance around the world.
Notes
References
- ^ COMPASS Navigation system in Wikipedia
- ^ China completes basic Beidou (Compass) Navigation Satellite System, 2011-04-10 by Globaltimes.cn
- ^ Compass on the Chinese Defence Today website
- ^ a b COMPASS Status Presentation, Munich Satellite Navigation Summit March 2011.