After more than 10 days in space, China's 19th Beidou navigation satellite is working autonomously and has set up a link with another satellite.
Xie Jun, chief designer of the Beidou navigation satellite system, says China has successfully tested the autonomous control technology of the Beidou global navigation satellite constellation, an alternative to U.S.-operated GPS, marking a solid step toward building a system with global coverage.
The "twin sats" surpass their predecessors in speed, accuracy and weight. "The biggest difficulty is the autonomous navigation technology," Xie said. "We need it to maintain the sustainable development of the project."
Wang Ping, another chief engineer on the project, says the inter-satellite link realizes communication and distance measurement among satellites, bringing autonomous control of the navigation system a step closer. Autonomous navigation is the project's key to global operation. It enables satellites to work independently, providing users with more accurate data.