China has put into orbit the first satellites of the navigation system
China Sunday, November 5, held a successful launch of the carrier rocket “Changzheng 3B” with two navigation satellites “Beidou 3” from the Baikonur Xichang in Sichuan province. The launch occurred at 19:45 local time (14:45 Moscow time), reported Xinhua news Agency.
Derived on orbit satellites were the first in the creation of the Chinese navigation system “Beidou”. Currently, the global navigation system is only the USA (GPS) and Russia (GLONASS).
Development of “Beidou” began in 1994. It is planned that it will completely work in 2020, when the orbit will operate 30 satellites.
In August it was reported that scientists in China managed to create a new ion engine that can be used to provide maneuvering space satellites.