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A new race is heating up in the area of satellite navigation. In recent years, the US has found itself competing with a growing list of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). These include the European Union’s Galileo, Russia’s GLONASS, and China’s BeiDou.
A new report shows that the US’s GPS – once the undisputed world leader in satnav – is falling behind China’s technology.
Space race 2.0
In recent years, China’s space administration has sought to rival the US’s dominance in space. One of its plans is to make its BeiDou satnav system the world’s leading GNSS.
Featured Video RelatedA new report from the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board (PNTAB) warned that “GPS’s capabilities are now substantially inferior to those of China’s BeiDou.” The report calls for the US to improve GPS and regain global leadership.
China and the EU have invested heavily in their GNSS systems for years. The US, dominant for so long with GPS, has arguably taken its leadership for granted. In recent years, the US military has only made small incremental improvements to its system.
In fact, the US is only now replacing GPS satellites from the 1990s with its new GPS 3 satellites. What’s more, GPS 3 was originally supposed to launch in 2014. Meanwhile, the more modern GPS 3F is unlikely to be fully launched until the mid-2030s. The US military’s next-generation system, called NTS-3, is still in the development phase.
China’s BeiDou has more satellites in orbit
China’s BeiDou has 56 satellites in orbit, which is almost double the number of GPS satellites in orbit. The country also has over ten times more monitoring stations than the US.
For the end user, this translates to greater data availability and accuracy in certain parts of the world. As China has many monitoring stations in developing nations, users in countries in Africa and Southeast Asia will see greater accuracy. These nations have historically been underserved by GPS.
According to a report from SpaceNews, the US is concerned that China could use BeiDou as a platform for espionage. The report cites the risk of Chinese-made receivers and other technologies related to BeiDou.
While the US next-gen satellite is in the R&D phase, China is already looking to launch new satellites to low Earth orbit. These are expected to include quantum navigation capabilities and new inertial sensors, making them even more accurate. The country is looking to consolidate its position, and the US is falling behind.
宋岳庭
代青塔娜
骅梓
