Ⅰ. 细品味经典文章
Up to June 23rd, 2020, 55 BeiDou satellites have been sent up, meaning the completion of China’s self-developed BeiDou Navigation(导航) Satellite System(BDS). BDS appears later than America’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and EU’s Galileo, but it can match them. As one of the four global navigation satellite systems, BDS involves efforts of over 400 agencies and 300, 000 research personnel and technicians.
Originally planned in the 1980s, the network represents a milestone in China’s space effort. BDS is comparable to GPS in terms of the accuracy of positioning. It also offers short message communication and thus can provide emergency communications in areas where conventional communication signals are poor. In an effort to improve the quality of their positioning services, Apple and Samsung phones, among others, are already using BDS’s signals, and so is every Chinese brand.
The construction of complete BDS is a huge technical achievement for China and can easily pay off in the near future. Meanwhile, BDS’s great contribution to promoting the world’s economic and social development as well as the peaceful use of space has attracted the world’s attention.
