China’s Beidou satellite navigation system: a rival to US-built GPS?

The successful launch of two more Beidou-3 satellites on November 19 brings China another step closer to building a GPS system to cover the globe.

The Beidou Navigation Satellite System was originally planned to reduce the Chinese military’s reliance on the US-built Global Positioning System.

Beidou’s coverage has been expanding, with numerous satellite launches over the years. About a dozen more launches are planned before year’s end.