Navigation security

Number of China's in-orbit BeiDou satellites reaches 39

China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a global geolocation network, currently has 39 in-orbit satellites and is expected to be completed in 2020, authorities said Wednesday.

At present, the BDS, independently constructed and operated by China, has officially provided RNSS (Radio Navigation Satellite System) services worldwide, with a total of 39 in-orbit satellites, after high-density launches of BeiDou-3 since 2017, said Yang Jun, deputy director of China's Satellite Navigation System Management Office, at a two-day conference on aerospace technology innovation in Shanghai, which concluded on Thursday.

China plans to send five to seven BDS satellites into space this year and two to four in 2020, which will help fully complete the BDS global network.

Yang said the BDS has always taken innovation and development as the driving forces for its construction, providing steadily improving positioning accuracy and new functions of global short message communication, international rescue and satellite-based augmentation service.