China is working on the next version of the BeiDou system, which will provide better services and be more functionally and technologically sophisticated.
This navigation system is expected to launch three test satellites in 2027, and the network will be deployed starting in 2029 and finished by 2035.
A study presented Thursday at a symposium to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the building of China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) demonstrates the country’s goal of achieving significant technical achievements by 2025.
The China Satellite Navigation Office claims that the next-generation BeiDou system will provide real-time, extremely precise location, timing, and navigation with accuracy levels ranging from meters to decimetres.
The principal designer of the BDS, Yang Changfeng, stated that it will be distinguished by accuracy and reliability, smooth accessibility, intelligent capabilities, networked integration, and flexible adaptability.
Also, the system will encompass user terminals from the surface of the Earth to the farthest reaches of space.
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The Chinese-made BDS was initiated in 1994. BDS-1 and BDS-2 were finished in 2000 and 2012, respectively. China became the third nation with its own autonomous global navigation satellite system on July 31, 2020, when BDS-3 was finished and launched.
Compared to other worldwide satellite navigation systems that use a single orbital constellation arrangement, BDS’s mixed orbital constellation stands out as a “Chinese solution.”
A new benchmark for worldwide satellite navigation systems, BDS-3 is made up of 24 medium Earth orbit satellites, three geostationary Earth orbit satellites, and three inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit ones.
The deputy principal designer of the BDS, Xie Jun, stated that the next-generation BDS will “optimize the constellation structure to form a mixed constellation of high, medium, and low Earth orbits.”
In order to provide flexible resource allocation, data exchange, and continuous operations, it will also have an integrated and effective ground infrastructure.
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