Beidou system starts service in Asia-Pacific

Dec 28, 2012- The China Beidou Navigation System, also known as Compass, has started offering free civilian positioning and navigation services over the Asia-Pacific region. The announcement was made during a press conference on Thursday morning.

The Beidou satellite network will provide positioning services with an accuracy of 10 meters, or 33 feet. Speed estimates are within less than one foot per second, and time measurements within 10 nanoseconds.

The system has been used in transportation, weather forecasting, hydrological monitoring, and mapping for tests. The Beidou navigation system is developed based on a "three-step" strategy. Currently in its second phase, the system now offers regional service with 16 satellites.

It is planned to offer services to global customers with 35 satellites, upon its completion in 2020.