China launches another navigation satellite
Baku, December 18 (AZERTAC). Ending a record breaking year, China launched its seventh satellite as part of their large navigation system via their Long March 3A - otherwise known as the CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (Y18) - launch vehicle. The launch of BeiDou-2 `Compass-I2` took place from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province at 20:20UTC on Friday.
The satellite that was launched is the second BeiDou-2 IGSO (Inclined GSO) satellite of the system. This constellation of satellites will consist of 35 vehicles, including 27 MEO satellites, 5 GSO satellites and 3 IGSO. The satellites will transmit signals on the: 1195.14-1219.14MHz, 1256.52-1280.52MHz, 1559.05-1563.15MHz and 1587.69-1591.79MHz, carrier frequencies. The BeiDou-2 was developed in the basis of the DFH-3 satellite platform and has an expected lifespan of eight years.
The Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS) is China`s second-generation satellite navigation system capable of providing continuous, real-time passive 3D geo-spatial positioning and speed measurement. The system will initially used to provide high-accuracy positioning services for users in China and its neighboring regions, covering an area of about 120 degrees longitude in the Northern Hemisphere. The long-term goal is to develop a global navigation satellite network similar to the USA’s GPS and Russia`s GLONASS.
Like the American and Russian counterparts, CNSS will have two kinds of services: a civilian service that will give an accuracy of 10 meters in the user position, 0.2 m/s on the user velocity and 50 nanoseconds in time accuracy; and the military and authorized user`s service, providing higher accuracies. The first phase of the project will see the coverage of the Chinese territory, but in the future the Compass constellation will cover the entire globe. The previous BeiDou launch took place on October 31st when a Chang Zheng-3C orbited the `Compass-G4`(37210 2010-057A) satellite.
This was the nineteenth flight of the CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A launch vehicle. The CZ-3A is a three-stage liquid launch vehicle, which has inherited the mature technology of the CZ-3 Chang Zheng-3. An upgraded liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cryogenic third stage has been developed to enable CZ-3A performing greater geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) capability.
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