China launches 56th BeiDou navigation satellite after 3.5 years

56th satellite for China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Wednesday, reported CGTN news. This is first BeiDou launch since 2020. On  July 31, 2020,  first BeiDou satellite was launched, and  system provided full-scale global services. In 2020, China launched its final satellite in its Beidou constellation that emulates and may seek to compete with U.S. Global Positioning System, marking a furr step in country’s vance as a major space power, reported Associated Press. 

56th satellite of China launched

According to CGTN news, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite would be first backup satellite of BDS-3 and would be connected to system after completing in-orbit tests. new satellite has achieved on-orbit rmal backup of existing geostationary orbit satellites, and would furr improve system's service performance, including enhancing availability and robustness, increasing capacity of short message communication of system by one-third, and improving location services. Moreover, mission has been marked as 473rd flight of Long March carrier rockets, reported Xinhua news agency. China has been planning to send one to three backup satellites for BDS year to improve stability and usability of constellation, as per 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference held last month. Earlier, China launched satellite onboard a Long March-3 rocket from satellite launch base of Xichang which was also brocasted live, according to an AP report. satellite was deployed in orbit and extended its solar panels to provide energy. first version of Beidou, meaning “Big Dipper”, has been decommissioned in 2012. Furr, future plans call for a smarter, more accessible and integrated system with Beidou at its core, to come online by 2035, said system’s chief designer Yang Changfeng.