Rocket launch set to complete regional 'GPS for China'
Satellite launch expected this month will complete second phase of Beidou, China's answer to GPS, giving coverage of Asia-Pacific
China is likely to launch its 16th Beidou satellite later this month, completing a crucial stage in the construction of its home-made satellite navigation system.
An official from the Beidou Navigation Satellite System Management Office in Beijing said yesterday that the launch schedule was subject to change.
"It is in our plan but many factors, such as weather, can cause postponement," he said.
"In a sensitive period, before the party congress [next month], we are not allowed to disclose the launch date until we receive the instructions from higher authorities."
China has marked three stages in the development blueprint for the Beidou system, which it hopes will rival the US Global Positioning System (GPS) network.
The first stage, an experimental network consisting of three satellites covering China, was completed in May 2003, six months after Hu Jintao became Communist Party general secretary. It was begun under his predecessor, Jiang Zemin . Hu is expected to hand the position on to Vice-President Xi Jinping next month. It has been widely speculated by people in China's space industry that the second stage of the system, covering the Asia-Pacific region, would be finished during Hu's term, becoming one of his political monuments.