Navigation network on track for global coverage

Nation will launch up to four satellites this year for Beidou system, seek international certification

China will launch up to four satellites for its global navigation and positioning network this year, senior project officials said, noting the country is willing to deepen cooperation with other space powers.

"We will launch three or four satellites for the Beidou Navigation Satellite System before the end of this year to ensure that a network covering the globe will take shape by 2020," Yang Changfeng, chief designer of the Beidou system, told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Sixth China Satellite Navigation Conference in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.