With the launch Monday of a new pair of navigation satellites, China is one step nearer to achieving global coverage with its navigation satellite system. The launch of Beidou-3M19 (Beidou-52) and Beidou-3M20 (Beidou-53) took place at 07:22 UTC, lofted by the Long March-3BGZ/YZ-1 (Y67/Y15) from the LC3 Launch Complex at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province. Deployment took place four hours after lift-off.
The MEO satellites are the Medium Earth Orbit component of the third phase of the Chinese Beidou (Compass) satellite navigation system. The satellites are part of a fleet expanding the system into global navigation coverage.
The satellites are using a bus that features a phased array antenna for navigation signals and a laser retroreflector, with a launch mass of 1,014 kg. Spacecraft dimensions are noted to be 2.25 by 1.0 by 1.22 meters. Usually, the satellites reside in a 21,500 – 21,400 km nominal orbit at 55.5 degrees.
The satellites are equipped with lightweight hydrogen maser clocks, which will serve as a more stable precision frequency reference to make the satellite navigation system work more accurately.
This was the seventh launch dedicated to the replenishment of the Beidou Navigation Satellite System in 2019, with launch activities starting on April 20th with the launch of Beidou-3IGSO-1 (Beidou-44) satellite from the LC3 Launch Complex of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center using the Long March-3B/G2 (Y59).