Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-04-02
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| The new Beidou satellite is launched into space carried by a Long March 3 orbital carrier rocket, March 30. (Photo/CNS) |
At 9 pm on
March 30, China successfully launched the Long March 3 (LM-3) orbital carrier
rocket, carrying the first of China's new generation Beidou satellites, set to
transform the Beidou satellite navigation system from a regional to an
international guidance system, according to the Chinese-language website of
China's Global Times.
On March 31
the China Satellite Global Services Alliance (CSGSA) held a press conference in
Beijing, announcing the latest stage in the construction of a "Space-based
New Silk Road." They stated that it will enable the smooth development of
China's "Belt and Road" plan–comprising the New Silk Road Economic
Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Space-based
Silk Road
The deputy
director general of the alliance in charge of daily operations, Wang Zhongguo,
said at the press conference that at the end of 2014, the alliance decided to
focus its strategy on the Belt and Road project and international expansion.
Currently the alliance has established trial satellite receiving bases in
Xinjiang, Ningxia, Hainan and Fujian, all important locations for the Belt and
Road projects. After this it will move westwards over land, through Central
Asia and Southwest Asia to Europe and over sea through the South China Sea, the
Pacific, the Indian Ocean to Africa and South and Central America, establishing
receiving stations all over the world.
The
alliance is said to be an open interdisciplinary non-profit NGO, with members
including the management of companies throughout the astronautical industry
chain, research institute staff and academics.
Wang said
that the alliance has entered into talks with a range of countries, including
Malta, Malaysia, India, the US and Norway regarding establishing satellite
receiving facilities within their borders. Satellite cooperation with Malta has
already been incorporated into the country's trade treaty with China. He said
that as well as the construction of new receiving stations, already established
receiving stations can be used too. The Chinese University of Hong Kong
previously built a ground receiving station, which will be able to receive
signals from Chinese satellites, which it can then use to provide services to
the public.
If the
Space-based Silk Road is to be realized then the building of related
infrastructure must be prioritized as a central project, he said. This can be
done by improving the communications infrastructure within the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SHO). Joint funds can be used to establish a low
orbit data acquisition satellite system, improve the coverage of navigation
along the Belt and Road routes and to build a remote sensing Virtual
Constellation. Ground infrastructure must also be jointly constructed,
including facilities for the receiving, processing and distribution of
satellite information.
Satellites
Wang said
that China currently has 120 satellites in orbit and that its communications
satellites can provide coverage for 98% of the world's inhabited areas; China's
remote-sensing satellites can also provide global coverage. The recently
launched new generation Beidou navigation satellite brings the number of Beidou
satellites to 17. The Beidou system is expected to have global coverage by
2020.
The
Space-based Silk Road will comprise several dozen high capacity communications
satellites, offering broad coverage, and these will be used as a supplement for
data acquisition satellite systems. They are also expected to improve
navigation services along the Belt and Road routes. The remote-sensing
satellites will also engage in long term observation of land masses, the
oceans, the atmosphere and environmental changes.
When asked
if the Gaofen series of satellites would be incorporated into the Space-based
Silk Road satellite system, Wang said that this would depend on the demands of
the owners, as most were commissioned by businesses.
Wu Jiyun,
vice director of the Satellite Technology Application Working Committee of the
Chinese Society of Astronautics, says that currently Beidou is second only to
the US GPS navigation system. He added that Beidou's accuracy is already a
match for GPS in the Pacific and that China intends for it to match GPS's
capabilities worldwide by 2020.
Belt and
Road
The
Space-based Silk Road will enable the Chinese government to continue observing
different regions of the world even in the event of a natural disaster or other
unforeseen circumstances. The system is also likely to help Chinese businesses
expand internationally and it can act as a scout for infrastructure
construction along the land and sea routes.
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