China to Launch more BeiDou-3 Satellites in 2017

BEIJING, Sept. 20 (China Space News) — More BeiDou-3 satellites will be launched in November 2017, according to a senior designer of the satellite navigation system.

By the end of this year, two more groups of BeiDou-3 satellites will be sent into space, said Ran Chengqi of state-owned Beidou Navigation Satellite System on Monday at a high-tech forum.

The satellite navigation system will provide services for Belt and Road countries around 2018, and form a complete global satellite navigation system by 2020, said Ran.

Currently, the system is able to provide open services to the Asia-Pacific region. China is the third country to develop a satellite navigation system after the United States and Russia.

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