Beidou set to boost navigation services

Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are boosting ties in satellite navigation services, as China's homegrown Beidou Navigation Satellite System is set to achieve global coverage by 2020.

With steady progress in the accuracy of location detection, Beidou is being increasingly used in Pakistan. China and Russia have also signed a deal on the compatibility and interoperability of Beidou and the latter's GLONASS systems, which enables users of either of the systems to use the other without much extra cost.

Such progress dovetails with China's plan to build a Beidou navigation system with a constellation of 35 satellites by 2020. In comparison, the United States' GPS consists of 24 satellites.