China Launches its Own GPS
China has opened its own global positioning system to the public. Called BeiDou, the technology promises about the same accuracy as GPS - about 10 meters - but covers only a small section of the world.
There are currently 33 BeiDou satellites in orbit, but only six are active. The system will need 24 active satellites for a global coverage. The Chinese government said that it plans to have 5 geostationary orbit satellites and 30 non-geostationary orbit satellites operational by 2020, including performance enhancing devices.
According to Chinese officials, BeiDou has been developed to "maintain independence and keep the initiative in [China's] hands, keep open, compatible, stable and reliable on technology, offer global service, thereby accelerating the foundation of navigation satellite industrial chain, consummating the sustaining extending and guaranteeing system, expanding the range of application in the country's economic and social sector." Like GPS, BeiDou has been used by the military prior to its opening to the public.
China said that BeiDou currently provide positioning services to "most parts" of the Asia-Pacific region, "including continuous passive positioning, navigation and timing services."
Clearly you are clueless about the way the world is going. You think the government sees it's own people as the issue, LOL!?! Those days are past and done buddy.
Who's Josh Whedon?
This system is obviously for military independence, however, it provides benefits to civilians by increasing the SV signals and lowering things such as PDOP and initialisation times.
as far as I know it's the 4th system not the 2nd.
Bingo. Did you know China has the world largest cyber warfare team ever assembled?
WW3 wouldnt be nukes. It will a cyber warfare with EMP bombs that already exist.
Why not that this is just a completely innocent revenue source for the Chinese government? As the world becomes more globalized there will be a greater need for communication infrastructure and China has decided to get in on it.
True that its first use was for military purposes, so was the Internet and half the electronics you use today.
It is the next logical step, sides turned US would have done exactly the same thing. Ensuring the supply of the service rather than have it from someone else who have an off switch...