China Launches Second COMPASS Navigation Satellite Beidou-2 G2

April 15, 2009 - Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
China successfully launched its second navigation satellite early Wednesday, as part of the country's independent global satellite navigation system.
The carrier rocket, Long March 3C, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:16 a.m..
An official with the National Engineering Center of Satellite Navigation told Xinhua, the successful launch of the geostationary Earth orbit satellite was of great importance as it was the second one of the country's satellite navigation system independent from foreign technology.
The system, code named "COMPASS", is a crucial part of the country's space infrastructure for providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security among others. It can bring significant social and economic benefits, the official said.
The system can help clients know their location at any time and place with accurate longitude, latitude and altitude data, and will offer "safer" positioning, velocity, timing communications for authorized users.
Previous reports said China planed to complete its independent global satellite navigation system by launching about 30 more orbiters before 2015, with 10 navigation satellites into the space in 2009 and 2010. The current Compass system only provides regional navigation service within China and neighboring regions.
The second "Compass" satellite and its carrier rocket were respectively developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology which are under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
It is the 116th flight for the country's Long March series of rockets.
China launched the first "Compass" navigation satellite into geostationary orbit in April 2007 to build up its own positioning system following the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), the Galileo Positioning System of Europe and Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• china
• launches
• second
• navigation
• satellite
• compass
• beidou
• g2
• xichang
• launch
• center
• long
• march
• 3c
• rocket
• fisrt
• chinese
• 2009

[juancarlosbascu]

Is OK, Long March 3C

[CLOUD9VIZION]

now bp monitors for petroleum?!?! very interesting...

[sillybaby888]

I never leave home without mine nowdays, I just sent my cousin over to gpssatnavreviews (.) com he is in the market for the latest model.

[robertmartinez]

And while China is advancing by REinvesting its wealth into its own future, the idiots in Washington, D.C. are spending everything America has on foreign wars that are none of our business.

If the "war on terror" or whatever other label you want to put on it is so important, why is it that the US Government is the one who funds 90% of the effort? The FEDS are intentionally bankrupting our country.

[Squarkino]

Hi. The rocket is a CZ-3C, not CZ-3A.