Beidou positioned to provide global coverage

Satellite network will provide data for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, as Zhao Lei reports.

When cyclists use one of the Mobike or ofo shared bikes that seem to dot almost every major city in China, they probably don't relate the colorful two-wheeler in front of them with a state-of-the-art spacecraft in orbit high above the Earth.

But without the navigational and positioning services that satellites provide, the entire bike-sharing sector would be no more than a pipe dream.