UNIQUE EDGE OF BEIDOU
The United States is currently the dominant provider of navigation services for vehicles in China, with its GPS used in 95 percent of the country's navigation market.
Expected to rival GPS and other major positioning systems, "Beidou is designed with one unique edge, combining navigation and short-message services," said Ran, "enabling end users to interact with each other, and to inform their whereabouts to whomever they choose.
INTENSIVE LAUNCH IN 2011
Also at Tuesday's press conference, Zhao Xiaojin, head of the aerospace department at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said China's aerospace project has entered a phase that features intensive launches -- completing an average of 20 launch missions annually.
Zhao said this year China has completed 19 missions, including the lift off of three Beidou navigation satellites, the Tiangong-1 space lab module, and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft. China is ranked number two in the world in terms of frequency of launches.
