Launch of two Beidou satellites marks completion of core network

China launched two satellites on Monday for its Beidou Navigation Satellite System, a move that marked the completion of Beidou's core space-based network.

The 56th and 57th Beidou satellites, which are also the 23rd and 24th of the core constellation of Beidou's third-generation system, were lifted into space atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket at 3:22 pm at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

After more than three hours of flight, the satellites were placed into medium Earth orbits about 20,000 kilometers above the Earth and joined 22 satellites of the same type previously launched. Their deployment marked the completion of Beidou's core in-orbit network, according to the office.

Yang Changfeng, Beidou's chief designer, said on Monday that with the new satellites, Beidou's global coverage and service capability have been further improved and users can enjoy more benefits from Beidou, such as global short-message service.

According to Yang, there have been 18 Beidou launch missions that placed 30 satellites into orbit since November 2017, when the first third-generation Beidou satellites were lifted.

Beidou is China's biggest space-based system and is one of four space-based navigation networks, along with the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

Since 2000, when the first Beidou satellite entered orbit, 57 satellites, including four experimental ones, have been launched and some have retired. Beidou began providing positioning, navigation, timing and messaging services to civilian users in China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region in December 2012. At the end of 2018, Beidou started to provide global services.

Currently, there are 46 Beidou satellites in active service in space. The China Satellite Navigation Office intends to send two Beidou satellites to geostationary orbits in the first half of 2020 to finish the deployment of all Beidou's space-based assets.