Beidou Complete

[TheGreenGoblin]

China has launched the final satellite in its Beidou constellation that emulates the US Global Positioning System (GPS), marking a further step in the country’s advance as a major space power.

The launch of the satellite onboard a Long March-3 rocket was broadcast live from the satellite launch base of Xichang on Tuesday, deep in the mountains of southwestern China, shortly before 10am. About half an hour later, the satellite was deployed in orbit and extended its solar panels to provide its energy.

An initial launch scheduled for last week was scrubbed after checks revealed unspecified technical problems.

The third iteration of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System promises to provide global coverage for timing and navigation, offering an alternative to Russia’s GLONASS and the European Galileo systems, as well as America’s GPS.

The launch of the 55th satellite in the Beidou family shows China’s push to provide global coverage has been “entirely successful,” the system’s chief designer Yang Changfeng told state broadcaster CCTV.

“In actual fact, this also signifies that we are moving from being a major nation in the field of space to becoming a true space power,” Yang said.

China’s space program has developed rapidly over the past two decades as the government devotes major resources toward developing independent high-tech capabilities – and even dominating in fields such as 5G data processing.

The first version of Beidou, meaning “Big Dipper,” was decommissioned in 2012. Future plans call for a smarter, more accessible and more integrated system with Beidou at its core, to come online by 2035.

In 2003, China became just the third country to independently launch a crewed space mission and has since constructed an experimental space station and sent a pair of rovers to the surface of the moon.

Future plans call for a fully functioning permanent space station and a possible crewed flight to the moon, with its first attempt to send an orbiter and rover to Mars possibly coming as early as next month. If successful, it would be the only other country besides the US to land on Earth’s closest planetary neighbour.

The program has suffered some setbacks, including launch failures, and has had limited cooperation with other countries’ space efforts, in part because of US objections to its close connections to the Chinese military

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2020 ... -rival-gps

[Boac]

All they need to do now is get Huaweii to take out the US GPS network. Neat but not gaudy, as they say.

Then up to the moon, replace the US flag with a Chinese one, sticker "XI was here" on the Apollo 11 lander base and set up the first Mars base. Progress!

I gest (sort of...)

[TheGreenGoblin]

All they need to do now is get Huaweii to take out the US GPS network. Neat but not gaudy, as they say.

Then up to the moon, replace the US flag with a Chinese one, sticker "XI was here" on the Apollo 11 lander base and set up the first Mars base. Progress!

I gest (sort of...)

Sort of is probably right. I suspect that the next human foot that leaves its imprint on the moon will be Chinese.

[TheGreenGoblin]

All they need to do now is get Huaweii to take out the US GPS network. Neat but not gaudy, as they say.

Then up to the moon, replace the US flag with a Chinese one, sticker "XI was here" on the Apollo 11 lander base and set up the first Mars base. Progress!

I gest (sort of...)

Arthur C Clarke foresaw this in 2010: Odyssey Two

Qian Xuesen - Tsien

As an aside I have always been irritated that Clarke saw fit to turn Jupiter into a sun when it is clearly about 10 times too small to ever achieve stellar mass. He should have consulted Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar but I digress.

[Undried Plum]

in part because of US objections to its close connections to the Chinese military

**** do they think runs USAF's NavStar "GPS" system? Boyscouts of America? Disney? Ubuntu?

Beidou is utter shite for two separate reasons.

Firstly, China is actually quite a small landmass on a large globe. They gave up Imperialism almost a century ago, so they don't have the globe-straddling chain of tracking stations that The Empire has to provide continuous tracking of all satellites all the time.

Secondly, their geodetic datum is totally bonkers. It deliberately introduces varying errors of several hundreds of metres - unless you are a registered paying subscriber. Anyway, their system really doesn't work very far beyond China's own regional borders.

[TheGreenGoblin]

in part because of US objections to its close connections to the Chinese military

**** do they think runs USAF's NavStar "GPS" system? Boyscouts of America? Disney? Ubuntu?

Beidou is utter shite for two separate reasons.

Firstly, China is actually quite a small landmass on a large globe. They gave up Imperialism almost a century ago, so they don't have the globe-straddling chain of tracking stations that The Empire has to provide continuous tracking of all satellites all the time.

Secondly, their geodetic datum is totally bonkers. It deliberately introduces varying errors of several hundreds of metres - unless you are a registered paying subscriber. Anyway, their system really doesn't work very far beyond China's own regional borders.

You make a good point. The Chinese have had to scramble to setup tracking stations world wide... and they are blind in many orbital paths...

Swakopmund tracking station

They have paid to have facilities in Argentina and Namibia (for example).... their deep space network resides within their own territory.

The station is part of the Chinese Tracking, Telemetry, Command and Communications System which uses S band communications. It is one of three overseas stations - the other two are in Karachi, Pakistan and Malindi, Kenya. The programme also uses Yuanwang tracking ships and Tianlian relay satellites.

Chinese Station in Argentina is a black box

Chinese Deep Space Network

[Undried Plum]

They have paid to have facilities in Argentina and Namibia

Anyone got their satcom phone numbers?

It would be a fun jape to phone 'em up and ask for a telephone order for delivery for a portion of sweet'n'sour pork with fried rice and a bag of prawn crackers on the side.

Edited to add:
You know where the delivery address would be for the Argentine station.

[TheGreenGoblin]

They have paid to have facilities in Argentina and Namibia

Anyone got their satcom phone numbers?

It would a fun jape to phone 'em up and ask for a telephone order for delivery for a portion of sweet'n'sour pork with fried rice and a bag of prawn crackers on the side.

Edited to add:
You know where the delivery address would be for the Argentine station.

It wouldn't be a small archipelago in the South Atlantic populated by anglophiles perchance?

[Undried Plum]

Correctamundo.



And he'd like light, not dark, soy sauce on his crackers, please.

I know you know what he means.

[k3k3]

On the Apollo lander the Chinese just need to cross out the 11 and write XI, anyone with a bit of class would have used Roman numerals in the first place.

[TheGreenGoblin]

On the Apollo lander the Chinese just need to cross out the 11 and write XI, anyone with a bit of class would have used Roman numerals in the first place.

Well put!

[llondel]

As an aside I have always been irritated that Clarke saw fit to turn Jupiter into a sun when it is clearly about 10 times too small to ever achieve stellar mass. He should have consulted Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar but I digress.

It did only last a thousand years. The implication I got was that it was maintained by artificial means.