China Aerospace Official Says Compass/Beidou Will Be Complete by 2015

January 19, 2009

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An official with China's main space program contractor told China Central Television (CCTV) on January 18 that the country will complete a 30+ satellite Compass (Beidou) constellation by 2015.

Zhao Xiaojin, head of the astronautics department for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation — a state-owned entity, said China will launch about 10 navigation satellites by the end of the next year. (Jun Lu, an official with the China Satellite Navigation Project Center, told the International Committee on GNSS meeting in Pasadena, California, in December that China would launch "more than 10" satellites in 2008 and 2009.)

Zhao's statement was the first time that a completion date for the Compass constellation has been reported publicly.