China has completed an in-orbit upgrade of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a move aimed at enhancing the quality and reliability of navigation services for users around the world, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO).
The office said the upgrade was carried out without disrupting normal operations and will enable the system to support new navigation technologies while delivering more accurate positioning, navigation and timing services.
The BeiDou system currently operates 50 satellites and has evolved into a fully functional global navigation network.
According to the CSNO, the system provides global positioning accuracy of better than 10 metres, velocity measurement accuracy of better than 0.2 metres per second, and timing accuracy within 20 nanoseconds.
Its Precise Point Positioning (PPP) service offers even greater precision, with horizontal positioning accuracy better than 0.3 metres and vertical accuracy better than 0.6 metres.
Officials said the latest upgrade involved adjustments to optimise the operational performance of several satellites, further improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the BeiDou network.