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BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

Aerospace Engineering

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration. It provides geolocation and time information to a BDS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more BDS satellites, without requiring the user to transmit any data. The current service, BeiDou-3, provides full global coverage for timing and navigation, comprising satellites in medium Earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous orbit and geostationary orbit, and became fully operational in July 2020. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
2020 1
Significance
In 2023, the International Civil Aviation Organization recognized the BeiDou system as a global standard for commercial aviation. 1
Classification
Status
Operational 1
FAQs

What orbits do the satellites of BeiDou-3 use?

It mixes 24 medium Earth orbit satellites with 3 inclined geosynchronous and 3 geostationary ones.

BeiDou-3 uses three types of orbit. Twenty-four satellites are in medium Earth orbit and give global coverage, three are in inclined geosynchronous orbit and cover the Asia-Pacific region, and three are in geostationary orbit and cover China.
Sources
1. BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    In 2023, the International Civil Aviation Organization recognized the BeiDou system as a global standard for commercial aviation.
  • status sentence
    The current service, BeiDou-3, provides full global coverage for timing and navigation, comprising satellites in medium Earth orbit, inclined geosynchronous orbit and geostationary orbit, and became fully operational in July 2020.
  • In Group: Global Satellite Navigation Systems, Introduction
    The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS; Chinese: 北斗卫星导航系统; pinyin: běidǒu wèixīng dǎoháng xìtǒng) is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration.
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