Pair of BeiDou satellites launched

China successfully launched the BeiDou (BDS) navigation satellites into medium Earth orbits (MEO) on 15 October.

A Long March 3B rocket with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre at 1223 local time (0423 UTC).

After a further 4 hours, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed successful insertion of the Beidou-3 satellites into their intended MEO.

These are the 39th and 40th Beidou satellites since the launch of the first in 2000. The final system will comprise 35 operational satellites:
- 27 in MEO at ~21,450km altitude and 55.5º inclination
- 5 in geostationary orbit (GEO)
- 3 in inclined geosynchronous orbits (IGSO) at 35,786km

China has already completed the BDS-1 system for national coverage, followed by BDS-2 for the Asia-Pacific region. These BDS-3 satellites should contribute to global GNSS coverage - compatible with GPS, GLONASS and Galileo - by 2020. Quoted accuracy is ‘2.5m’.

Two further Beidou satellite launches are planned this year: another pair for MEO and a single satellite for geostationary orbit.

Further details from GBTimes