News from CCTV: On December 27, 2018, the Beidou navigation system began to provide services to the world. This global satellite navigation system, independently constructed and operated by China, is compatible and shared with other satellite navigation systems in the world. After nearly 30 years of innovative development, it has been able to provide high-precision and high-reliability positioning, navigation, and timing services to all types of users around the world, all day and night.

In the National Laboratory of Satellite Navigation Equipment Systems and Equipment Technology, research on a satellite-based aviation safety surveillance system named "Sky Mirror" based on Beidou-3 is being advanced in an intense and orderly manner.

Starting from China’s national conditions and strength, the Beidou satellite navigation system chooses to use the dual-star positioning theory as the cornerstone, and determines the “three-step” development strategy of active first, then passive, first regional and then global. However, when the construction of the Beidou-1 system was launched, it faced more doubts and concerns.

Faced with difficulties, the builders of Beidou-1 did not back down. A group of Beidou experts and academicians took the lead, leading young scientific and technological workers in a large bungalow in the 54th Institute, working all night long to discover problems, discuss plans, and overcame difficulties one after another.

The completion and putting into use of Beidou-1 not only solved the problem of whether my country has satellite navigation and opened up a new path for satellite navigation, but more importantly, it cultivated talents, accumulated experience, and strengthened confidence. Since then, the construction of the Beidou system has entered a fast lane. Since the first Beidou satellite was launched in 2000, 46 satellites have been successfully launched without any failure. From the completion of the Beidou-1 system in 2000, it only provided services to Chinese customers, and by the end of 2018, the Beidou-3 launched global services, embarking on a development path of satellite navigation with unique Chinese characteristics.

With the steady growth of the Beidou satellite navigation system, the scale of related industries has also grown rapidly. At present, there are 14,000 satellite navigation and location service companies in my country, employing more than 500,000 people, forming five major industrial regions: the Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Hubei-Henan-Hunan, and Sichuan-Shaanxi-Chongqing. The independent Beidou chip has entered the 28nm process, and the total number of satellite navigation patent applications in my country has reached 54,000, ranking first in the world.

In the fields of transportation, marine fisheries and other fields, there are more than 6 million road operating vehicles, 30,000 postal and express delivery vehicles, approximately 80,000 buses in more than 30 central cities, and approximately 6,000 inland river and maritime navigation facilities using the Beidou system. At the same time, Beidou high-precision products are exported to more than 90 countries and regions, and Beidou system service performance and product quality have won a good reputation. The Beidou system has also entered the standards of many international organizations such as international civil aviation, international maritime affairs, and international mobile communications.