Guangming Daily reporter, Zhang Wen, Guangming Daily correspondent, Yang Xin, Qi Xiaojun
On July 31, 2020, the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader solemnly announced to the world that the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system was officially opened. At this moment, the Beidou global service signal spread in invisible time and space. The world is full of stars, and the world truly has the guidance and company of "China Beidou". China Beidou has once again contributed Chinese wisdom to the world in the 21st century, in the historical development process of global integration and world interconnection.
As a major space infrastructure that provides public services to the world, China’s Beidou satellite navigation system stands in the first echelon of our country’s active efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind, serving the world and benefiting mankind.
The Beidou satellite navigation system was tested on 103 aircraft of the ARJ21-700, a regional airliner designed and built entirely in China.
Global, first-class excellence
In the 1990s, the international situation was complex and changeable. GPS of the United States and GLONASS of Russia had completed the global networking and firmly occupied the first-mover advantage. People are increasingly aware of how important it is to have their own satellite navigation system, but at that time our country’s economic strength and technical foundation were still relatively weak, and it caught up with the strictest technical blockade abroad. Faced with the situation of domestic and foreign difficulties, the Party Central Committee resolutely decided: to build its own satellite navigation system as much as possible, and to implement the "three-step" development strategy based on the actual national conditions. Even if the real environment is difficult and tortuous, Beidou has never given up the dream of becoming a world-class satellite navigation system.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has repeatedly proposed the "Belt and Road Initiative" to "promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind". These important concepts convey the long-cherished wish and responsibility of a world power to help global economic and social development, and also draw a blueprint and inject impetus into the globalization process of the Beidou system.
In 2017, the Beidou-3 system embarked on a new journey of global networking. In two and a half years, Beidou successfully launched 18 arrows and 30 satellites, completing the set goal of covering the world and serving the world half a year ahead of schedule, setting a new record in the world’s satellite navigation field.
Some people have suggested that the construction of the US GPS and Russia’s GLONASS global system has set a good model, and the imitation and replication of the Beidou system is not simple. This is obviously not an open-book proposition, and it is not in line with China’s national conditions to completely copy the construction of the US-Russia global system.
Driven by the innovation-driven development strategy, Beidou Engineering builders have inherited and developed the "hybrid constellation configuration" on the basis of the Beidou-2 system, creatively applied and realized new construction concepts such as the full constellation "inter-satellite link", and achieved global coverage and better performance in Asia-Pacific with the most economical capital investment and the most efficient number of satellites. Beidou system service functions and performance indicators have achieved a qualitative leap. In addition to basic services such as navigation, positioning and timing, it also has a variety of special services such as satellite-based enhancement, ground-based enhancement, precision single-point positioning, international search and rescue, and short message communication. The global positioning accuracy is better than 10 meters, the Asia-Pacific region is better than 5 meters, and the timing accuracy is better than 20 nanoseconds. All performance indicators are world-class.
Today, the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system was officially opened. This glorious moment recorded in the history of the development of satellite navigation in our country is the solemn promise of China’s Beidou to the people of the world: to build an excellent and first-class global satellite navigation system.
A large lantern boat using the Beidou beacon telemetry remote control device was placed in the Dangan waterway of the Pearl River Estuary.
In Anzhong Village, Xiaoyangying Town, Dengzhou City, Henan Province, tractors equipped with a Beidou navigation system are seeded unmanned.
Inclusive, win-win cooperation
China’s development needs the world, and the development of the world cannot be separated from China. With the acceleration of globalization, especially in the field of satellite navigation, internationalization is a natural attribute and an inevitable choice. Peaceful use of space and in-depth cooperation and exchanges in the field of outer space are propositions that our country has always adhered to.
However, at the beginning of the construction of the Beidou system, the road of international cooperation was not smooth. Since the golden frequency resources most suitable for satellite navigation were running out at the beginning of the 20th century, the ITU squeezed out a small band of frequencies from the air navigation band to the maximum extent for the newly developed satellite navigation system, but it needs to be coordinated with relevant countries and systems in accordance with international rules, and follow the principle of equal competition and first-served. This means that if we take a step later or take a step back, our country will miss the dream of building a global satellite navigation system.
However, in any period of development, the Beidou system expresses the sincerity and mind of cooperating with other satellite navigation systems in the world. In order to conform to the development trend of multi-system integration, our country actively promotes the compatibility and interoperability between the Beidou system and the GPS of the United States, the Beidou system and the Glonass of Russia, the Beidou system and the Galileo of the European Union. At present, China and the United States continue to coordinate and exchange in various fields such as satellite-based enhancement, compatibility and interoperability, and have achieved many cooperation results. Since the Sino-Russian Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement on Satellite Navigation came into effect, the Committee on Major Strategic Cooperation Projects has advanced a number of cooperation projects in an orderly manner, and reached a consensus on the time interoperability of the two systems. China and the
The satellite navigation system is the world’s public infrastructure. Beidou has always viewed and embraced the world with the concept of open cooperation, and used development to convince the world that "China is willing to share the fruits of the construction and development of the Beidou system with other countries, and jointly promote the vigorous development of the global satellite navigation industry." ASEAN, South Asia, Eastern Europe, West Asia, and Africa have joined Beidou "Moments" one after another, sharing achievements and win-win cooperation.
As the core supplier of the United Nations Global Navigation Satellite System, the Beidou system has injected new thinking, new concepts and new impetus into the development of the world navigation field. Consensus has been reached with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs on deepening cooperation in the field of satellite navigation, and the United Nations International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems has been successfully held twice in our country, and the "Beidou Declaration" and "Xi’an Initiative" have been issued. After the successful launch of the Beidou-3 global system, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs sent a special congratulatory video, affirming the huge contribution made by the Beidou system in promoting global economic and social development, peaceful use of outer space, and participation in international cooperation in UN space activities.
What has been brought to the world stage by the Beidou system is joint research and development, industrial cooperation and education and training from Chinese universities and scientific research institutions. The Beidou system converts the accumulated satellite navigation experience into a shortcut to promote the development of satellite navigation applications in countries around the world. Over the past few years, the Beidou Center represented by China-Arab Beidou/GNSS has cultivated a large number of international talents and contributed Chinese solutions and Chinese wisdom to the world.
On June 23, the last networked satellite of our country’s Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system was launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
Sincere service for the benefit of mankind
In recent years, with the enhancement of service capabilities, the Beidou system has actively integrated into world affairs and fulfilled international responsibilities. It has successively entered the standards of many international organizations and has been recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization as one of the four core constellations of the global satellite navigation system. Now, the first international standard for mobile communications to support the new global signal of Beidou-3 has been released, the first Beidou shipborne end point detection standard has been announced to the world by the International Electrotechnical Commission, the International Maritime Organization has recognized the Beidou system as a global radio navigation system, and the International Search and Rescue Organization is carrying out standard document formulation and network access testing for the search and rescue payload carried by Beidou-3. Beidou system is playing an increasingly important role.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Beidou system has actively responded to the "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative and gone abroad, providing customized services according to the different needs of different countries and industries, and gradually becoming a world brand familiar to the people.
In 2013, Myanmar agriculture used more than 500 high-precision Beidou end points, which is the first time that Beidou high-precision products have been applied in batches in South East Asia for agricultural data collection and land fine management.
In 2015, a high-precision receiver based on the Beidou system was applied to the construction of a 300-meter-high skyscraper at the headquarters of the National Bank of Kuwait, achieving millimeter-level measurement errors in the vertical direction during the construction process. This is the first time Beidou has been applied to high-rise building monitoring overseas.
In 2018, Beidou Systems participated in the offshore piling project on Allah Island, Maldives, providing all-weather, high-precision services to achieve intelligent monitoring, visualization, and high-precision construction of offshore piling.
Wherever you go, the Beidou system plays an important role.
In Singapore, the Beidou-based high-precision silent piling system can accurately manage pile points, quickly locate the location of drilling points according to navigation prompts, and achieve centimeter-level accuracy for each piling point, while significantly increasing the drilling speed of drilling rigs.
In Cambodia, it provides more complete basic information for the comprehensive planning of Cambodian government departments, land improvement monitoring, infrastructure building, ecological environment monitoring, etc. High-precision services have become an indispensable and important technical means for government infrastructure building.
In Russia, the Siberian power patrol line realizes two-way interaction between on-site personnel and the management center to detect equipment defects and hidden dangers that endanger line safety in a timely manner, ensuring the safety of transmission and distribution lines and the stability of the power system.
Beidou also "sailed" into Europe with full sincerity. The China-Europe train was equipped with Beidou end point containers. The high-precision positioning and navigation function made logistics more convenient, recorded the running track of trains and goods in real time, and the positioning accuracy was within 10 meters. It realized the upgrade and transformation of traditional transportation methods.
At present, domestic Beidou basic products have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, and have been successfully applied in ASEAN, South Asia, Eastern Europe, West Asia, Africa and other places. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries are actively using the Beidou system to explore smart city construction.
China’s Beidou is also the world’s Beidou. In the new era, as a bright business card for our country, China’s Beidou will make new and greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind and promoting the development of human society.
The pictures in this version are all sent by Xinhua News Agency
Guangming Daily (August 1, 2020, edition 05)
