"On March 9, China moved into the end run of a decades-long project to build its own global navigation satellite system ... It’s called BeiDou. ... The latest satellite in the navigation system, a third-gen craft (known as BeiDou-3) now in a geostationary orbit ... The system’s final satellite, scheduled for launch in May, will give it full global capability. At that point, China’s completed system will rival America’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS, and Europe’s Galileo. ... On the business side, more than 70 percent of Chinese smartphones already use the system ... integrated into over 6.5 million taxis, buses, and trucks. And as of 2019, it had more than 400 million users worldwide. Over 30 countries, largely in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, use the system, including for various projects in Indonesia, Kuwait, Uganda, Myanmar, the Maldives, Cambodia, Thailand, and Russia. ... For the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), BeiDou acts as a domestically-controlled alternative to international systems. A cornerstone of the PLA’s modernization has been working toward being able to fight modern wars that require precision-guided weapons and advanced communication networks. ... China is also beginning to export weapons systems powered by BeiDou ... Pakistan. As the only country whose armed forces use the unrestricted version of BeiDou that the PLA uses, Pakistan has purchased multiple systems that use BDS, including the JF-17 fighter. ... Pakistan’s homegrown Ra’ad-II cruise missile tested in February reportedly uses BeiDou ... "
China’s version of GPS is almost complete. Here’s what that means. | Popular Science It’s called BeiDou, and it’s key for the military, tech industry, and more.
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