IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Beijing

Beidou satellites begin operation

After more than 10 days in space, China's 19th Beidou navigation satellite is working independently and has set up a link with another satellite. The two satellites were launched by the same rocket on July 25 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. Xie Jun, chief designer of the Beidou system, said China has successfully tested the autonomous control technology of the Beidou global navigation satellite constellation, an alternative to US-operated GPS, marking a solid step toward building a system with global coverage.