Beidou completes in-orbit upgrade

The Beidou Navigation Satellite System has recently completed its full in-orbit upgrade, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

The upgrade work was launched in March, with engineers and controllers optimizing the working status of some satellites.

The office said in a brief statement on Friday that the Beidou system will diversify and develop new navigation technologies, while fully guaranteeing stable operation, to deliver more stable and reliable positioning, navigation and timing services for global users.

The office said it will strive to fulfill the goal of establishing a more ubiquitous, integrated and intelligent comprehensive space-time system by 2035.

Beidou is one of China's largest civilian satellite systems and also one of the four global navigation networks, alongside the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, and the European Union's Galileo.

Since 2000, 64 Beidou satellites, including four experimental ones, have been launched on 47 Long March 3 series rockets from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The system was declared complete in July 2020 and then began providing full-scale global services.

Currently, more than 50 Beidou satellites are in active service, operating in multiple types of orbits. Almost all of smart phone users in this nation use Beidou services on a daily basis.