BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

China’s BDS, short for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has been used in more than half of the world’s countries and places till now. This is a satisfying report card in China’s space technology field.

The system has been offering excellent navigation services to the world since the basic completion of BDS-3 in December, 2018. In June, 2020, its 55th satellite, the last globally networked satellite in the whole program, joined the system and started to work. After three years, in May, 2023, the 56th satellite, the first backup satellite of the system was sent into space.

BDS is our country’s largest satellite system and also one of the four most influential world systems. The others are America’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s GALILEO.

BDS is used in many public services in China and around the world, such as communications, farming, weather and so on. Over 70% of smartphones in China are used with the help of BDS.

For really a long time, China has been using foreign systems for navigation. So in 1994, the country began the research and development of its own navigation system. In 2000, China sent the first two BeiDou satellites to build an experimental system. In 2003 and 2007, another two experimental satellites were sent to join them. In the following years, more of BeiDou’s satellites were sent to space one by one.

北斗卫星导航系统

中国的 BDS（北斗卫星导航系统）迄今已在全球一半以上的国家和地区使用，这是我国在航天技术领域交出的一份令人满意的成绩单。

自2018年12月北斗三号基本系统建成以来，该系统一直在为世界提供优质的导航服务。2020年6月，第55颗卫星，也是北斗三号系统的最后一颗全球组网卫星，加入该系统并投入工作。三年后，2023 年 5 月，第 56 颗卫星，即北斗三号系统的首颗备份卫星被送入太空。

BDS 是我国最大的卫星系统，也是世界上最具影响力的四大卫星系统之一。其他三个系统分别是美国的全球定位系统、俄罗斯的格洛纳斯系统和欧盟的伽利略系统。

BDS在我国和世界各地的许多公共服务领域都有应用，如通信、农业、气象等领域。中国70%多的智能手机都依托于BDS。

我国在过去很长一段时间都在使用受制于国外的导航系统，因此1994 年，国家开始研发自己的导航系统。2000 年，中国发射了首批两颗北斗卫星，建立了实验系统。2003 年和 2007 年，又有两颗实验卫星加入其中。随后几年，更多的北斗卫星被陆续送入太空。

Word Bank

navigation n. 导航；领航

satellite n. （人造）卫星

system n. 系统

influential adj. 有很大影响的