China Launches Final Beidou Satellite To Complete Its Own Version Of GPS

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China's GPS-like satellite navigation system has been in the works for over two decades. 

Global Times


China successfully launched the final satellite of its Beidou navigation system into space on Tuesday. It's Beijing's answer to the US government-owned GPS and will help the country reduce its reliance on American technology.
The satellite launch took place shortly before 10 a.m. local time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the country's southwestern Sichuan province. The launch, lạc sơn đại phật trung quốc which was broadcast live, was deemed a success after about 20 minutes. 




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China has been working on its own satellite navigation network for more than two decades. Beijing began developing Beidou, which means Big Dipper in Mandarin, in the mid 1990s as China's military sought to wean off GPS that was run by the US Air Force. It offers another option to the US-owned GPS, Russia's Glonass, the European Union's Galileo. Japan and India operate smaller systems.