China Launches 5th Compass (Beidou-2) Navigation Satellite — First IGSO

[Updated August 1, 2010] China's state news agency has reported that the fifth Compass (Beidou-2) satellite — the system's first inclined geostationary orbit (IGSO) spacecraft — was launched successfully at 5:30 a.m. Sunday (August 1 — local time) from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province.

The full Beidou-2 constellation will ultimately include 35 space vehicles: 27 in middle Earth orbit (MEO), 5 GSOs, and 3 IGSOs.

China’s Compass/Beidou Will Headline Shanghai NaviForum Conference

[updated July 10 ] Shanghai NaviForum, the event  that introduced China's Compass (Beidou-2) GNSS sytem to an international audience in 2007, returns September 1-3 against the backdrop of a multi-billion dollar World Expo.

China Begins Broadcasts on Latest Compass GNSS GEO Satellite

[Updated June 11] China has begun transmitting signals on three frequencies from the Compass G3 satellite launched into geostationary orbit (GEO) on June 2. G3 is the third Compass (Beidou-2) GEO and the second such launch this year. The three GEOS and a a middle-earth-orbiting (MEO) spacecraft launched in 2007 comprise the constellations of China’s second-generation GNSS system now under development.

Chinese officials announced that the Compass G3 had reached its geostationary position at 84.6° E longitude on June 7. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been able to capture the first nominal navigation signals of Beidou G-3.

ESA Sponsors GNSS Summer School this September in Denmark

Online registration is open for the fourth International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite systems. The 10-day course will take place at the GPS Center at Aalborg University in Slettestrand, Denmark from Wednesday afternoon, September 1 through Saturday morning, September 11.

Held for the first two years at University FAF Munich, it now takes place in Denmark with two new lead sponsors, the European Space Agency and Nokia.

CAPS — China’s Regional Navigation Satellite System

Many navigation satellite systems have emerged since 2000.

GPS is the first global navigation satellite system (GNSS), followed by Russia’s GLONASS, reinvigorated in recent years. Europe is developing Galileo, and China is expanding the regional system Beidou to a global system called Compass (also referred to as Beidou-2).

Septentrio Reports Frequency Spikes in Compass M1 Satellite Signals

Prompted by suggestions from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), researchers at Septentrio have investigated and reported on what they describe as anomalies in the signal from the Compass (Beidou-2) M1 satellite, launched April 14, 2007.