China launches GPS satellite No 8

China will launch an eighth navigation satellite to perfect its Beidou-2, or Compass, satellite navigation and positioning network within days, the Ministry of National Defence said on its website. It said the satellite would be sent into orbit by a Long March 3C rocket at Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan. The new system will become part of an accelerated challenge to US supremacy in providing global positioning services when it will have complete global coverage with 35 satellites by 2020.