China’s new generation BeiDou satellite system will increase competition with the US GPS system

China plans to launch the next generation of its BeiDou navigation satellite system by 2035 after a series of upgrades – a development that will help it compete with the US-backed Global Positioning System (GPS) for international customers.

BeiDou developers expect a “breakthrough” in key technologies next year, state media reported, citing a government-organized seminar on Thursday to mark the 30th anniversary of the domestic navigation system concept.

Three pilot satellites could be sent into space by around 2027, followed by the launch of a “networking system satellite” around 2029. And by 2035, the creation of the next version of BeiDou should be completed.

“China will build a next-generation BeiDou system with more advanced technology, more powerful functions and better services,” Xinhua said.

The name Beidou comes from the Ursa Major asterism, a collection of stars historically used in navigation to determine the location of the North Star. The current generation, BeiDou-3, entered full service in 2020. Plans for the next generation were unveiled at the seminar.

01:23

China launched the last part of the BeiDou navigation satellite system into orbit

China launched the last part of the BeiDou navigation satellite system into orbit

China is developing BeiDou to compete for a piece of the lucrative 31-year-old GPS satellite communications market. Both systems compete for users with the European Galileo system, the Russian Glonass and the Japanese Quasi-Zenith satellite system.