At this stage of China's history there is something wonderfully resonant about Beijing's determination to acquire a satellite-based navigation system with its Beidou programme.
This week Beidou passed another milestone, when the service was offered for the first time to paying customers in the Asia-Pacific region, to which its system of at least 15 satellites in orbit is currently restricted.
Beidou, which takes its name from the Big Dipper - an important navigational beacon in ancient times - still has a long way to go before it can rival the American GPS system, which has 30 satellites providing a service that covers the entire globe for free.
Beidou was once a partner in the European Union's own Galileo system, which will also be offered for free once it gets running. But China's involvement lasted only until the strategic implications of this became clear to the European Commission in early 2008.
Strategic considerations are also the probable reasons for China's exclusion from Russia's Glonass system or India's attempt to establish a system of its own, called IRNSS, which is hoped to provide a regional service by 2014.
The uninterrupted stream of successful rocket launches by China in recent years should encourage its rivals in the race for space to believe that Beidou will become a global system by its target date of 2020, which was approved in 2003. Two months ago we reported that those involved in Beidou were worried that Beijing's new leadership may not approve the continuation of their programme, but those fears are probably misplaced, if you consider the prestige attached to the satellite systems by the world powers trying to set them up.