China’s exploration of satellite navigation
In 1970, six months after the launch of the Dongfanghong-1 satellite, China’s first demonstration report on the development of a navigation satellite was completed.
At that time, a navigation system with a sample star was developed, with a vivid code name [the lighthouse project].
Although it was finally terminated due to economic and technical reasons, it was like a bright light in the dark and accumulated valuable engineering experience for the Beidou satellite.
In 1983, experts and scholars represented by Academician Chen Fangyun put forward the idea of “dual satellite positioning system”, which can realize the development of navigation satellites from scratch with the minimum constellation, the minimum investment and the shortest period.https://www.stoneitech.com/
Double-satellite positioning is to use two geostationary satellites to determine ground and air targets.
However, at that time, China still had many factors to consider whether to immediately start the costly navigation satellite project.
Until the start of the Gulf War in the early 1990s, the successful application of the US GPS global positioning system in the war made the Chinese people deeply realize that the establishment of satellite navigation system is imperative.
In 1994, China’s satellite navigation project was approved and named [Beidou].
In 2000, China successfully launched two satellites into space through independent research and development, and established the Beidou-1 system.
China has become the third country in the world to independently own the global satellite navigation system besides the United States and Russia.
AI Core World | New Infrastructure | Beidou Navigation After 28 Years
Originality forced by early difficulties
In terms of funding for the early development of satellite navigation systems, the gap between China and the United States is more than 10 times.
At that time, the United States had invested more than $20 billion in GPS engineering, and the annual maintenance cost was as high as $500 million;
However, China’s economic base was still very weak at that time, and the budget of the [863 Plan] for research and development of technologies in seven major fields, including aerospace, was only 10 billion yuan.
In the absence of both money and technology, the Beidou system was forced out of its own initiative.
Navigation satellite connectivity [the Belt and Road]
In 2000, the 01 and 02 satellites of Beidou-1 were successfully launched and achieved stable operation in orbit.
In May 2003, the backup star Beidou I 03 was successfully launched.
In December of the same year, Beidou No. 1 system officially began to provide services to domestic users.
On October 31, 2000, the first navigation and positioning satellite (Beidou Navigation Test Satellite) developed by China was successfully launched at Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
On the basis of Beidou 1, the construction of Beidou 2 satellite navigation system was officially launched in 2004.
AI Core World | New Infrastructure | Beidou Navigation After 28 Years
According to international rules, the satellite navigation system must apply for frequency from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Due to the late start in China, after it is difficult to obtain the frequency resources, the navigation satellite must be successfully launched within the seven-year validity period, or it will be invalid after the expiration.
During this period, the domestic rubidium atomic clock has almost become an impassable barrier, and the path of international cooperation has also been limited.
As the heart of Beidou satellite, rubidium atomic clock directly determines the accuracy of Beidou satellite positioning, speed measurement and time service functions.
At 4:11 on April 14, 2007, the first satellite of Beidou-2 was successfully launched.
On December 27, 2012, after 16 satellites were successfully launched in succession, the Beidou-2 system officially provided regional services.
On June 23, 2020, the last networking satellite of China’s Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system was launched at Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
Compared with Beidou 2, Beidou 3 also has the function of [inter-satellite link], which can realize the interconnection between satellites.
This is the core of realizing autonomous navigation of navigation constellation and the key to improving the autonomous operation capability of satellite navigation system.
In the 32 months since November 2017, China has successfully launched 30 Beidou-3 networking satellites and 2 Beidou-2 backup satellites with a 100% success rate.
On July 31, 2020, China solemnly announced to the world that China’s independently built and independently operated global satellite navigation system was fully completed.
At the press conference on the completion of the Beidou system held by the Information Office of the State Council on August 3, 2020, Ran Chengqi, the spokesman of the Beidou satellite navigation system, introduced the achievements of the industrialization of China’s satellite navigation system:
In the past 10 years, the total output value of China’s satellite navigation and location service industry has increased by more than 20% annually, reaching 345 billion yuan in 2019, and is expected to exceed 400 billion yuan in 2020.
By 2021, the total output value of China’s satellite navigation and location service industry will reach about 470 billion yuan.
AI Core World | New Infrastructure | Beidou Navigation After 28 Years
Beidou navigation system is used more than 100 billion times a day
At present, the Beidou system has made significant progress, exceeding the frequency of domestic navigation and positioning led by GPS.
So far, Beidou Navigation has been used more than 200 billion times a day, with a utilization rate 30% higher than that of the GPS system in the United States.
At the press conference of the white paper “China’s Big Dipper in the New Era” recently, the China Satellite Navigation System Management Office said:
By 2035, China will build a new generation of Beidou system, which will consider the inclusion of low-orbit satellites, and provide a high-precision space-time network covering the world through the constellation integration of high, middle and low orbits.
After long-term discussion and demonstration, LEO satellite navigation will certainly be included in the national navigation and positioning service system.
As of the first half of 2022, 128 smart phones applied for network access in China supported Beidou positioning, and their shipments accounted for more than 98% of the total shipments in the first half of the year.
The Beidou application industry is also showing rapid development, with its output value likely to exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2025.
At present, domestic Beidou basic products have been exported to more than 120 countries and regions, providing services to more than 100 million users.
More responsive to the needs of the Chinese market
Before the current Beidou satellite navigation system was officially put into operation, the main market in China was GPS satellite navigation system.
This has made GPS satellite navigation system a monopoly for a long time.
The monopoly of GPS satellite navigation system has brought China the need to adapt the Chinese market to GPS satellite navigation system.
This unequal relationship lasted for more than ten years, until the Beidou satellite navigation system gradually emerged, which made GPS satellite navigation system a market competitor.
In addition to catering to the habits of Chinese people in terms of operation, it has continuously made targeted improvements in navigation, making users more and more accurate in navigation.
Beidou satellite navigation system industry chain is connected
The Beidou satellite navigation system consists of three parts: space segment, ground segment and user segment.
The navigation user segment can be subdivided into upstream, midstream and downstream industries. The upstream mainly includes basic data, basic software (electronic map) and basic devices.
Basic components are the key link for the industry to embody Chinese technology.
The basic device (receiver), as the most critical part embodying domestic technology, is mainly composed of baseband chips, RF chips, boards, antennas, etc;
The midstream mainly includes terminal integration and system integration, which is the focus of industrial development;
Downstream solutions and operation and maintenance services provide many industrial applications.
① Upstream core devices: High precision, localization requirements drive core technology evolution.
② Midstream terminals and systems: the proportion of output value is large, all kinds of terminals are blooming, and military and civilian markets are different.
③ Downstream solutions and operation and maintenance services: market-oriented integration is the key to rapid development.
The output value center of Beidou industrial chain gradually extends from the middle and upper reaches to the middle and lower reaches.
AI Core World | New Infrastructure | Beidou Navigation After 28 Years
The integration of Beidou and different industries is more in-depth
The Beidou system not only drives the development of the satellite navigation industry, but also helps to achieve the goals related to new infrastructure through the integration of Beidou and different industries.
Beidou system can be applied to various fields such as agriculture, medicine, finance, transportation, military industry, etc., and integrated with various industries to greatly improve work efficiency. It will play its core advantages in special fields such as disaster monitoring.
5G and the Internet of Things promote the accelerated promotion of Beidou and help the Internet of Things.
Driven by 5G’s commercial use, [5G+Beidou] will become an important infrastructure, give full play to the intelligent advantages of the machine and network environment, and finally achieve wide-area and global intelligent collaborative control.
In the field of Internet of Vehicles, Beidou’s positioning and timing functions help to achieve accurate time information and location information perception.
AI Core World | New Infrastructure | Beidou Navigation After 28 Years
ending:
Today, it has been 28 years since the Galaxy event. Since then, Beidou has also become a satellite navigation system based in China and serving global users.
In the business environment dominated by market economy, users will be able to improve new technologies and build an industrial chain ecosystem with a scale of hundreds of billions around Beidou.
These, in turn, have once again become the soil for the development of more new technologies, from which the next generation of satellite positioning technology revolution may emerge.
Some data references: Lei Feng.com: “The Twenty-eight Years of Beidou Navigation: Blockage, Breakthrough, and Overall Dominance”, China Newsweek: “Beidou Considers Incorporating into Low-Orbit Satellites”, Nanfang: “How many steps will it take to become the” Beidou of the World “from the Beidou Seven Star to the Beidou Navigation System?”, Global Archives: “The Transformation from the Beidou to the Beidou Satellite Navigation System”
