Posted: Sat, Feb 3, 2007, 6:04 AM ET (1104 GMT)
A Chinese rocket launched a new navigation satellite early Saturday in that nation's first orbital launch of the year. The Long March 3A rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 11:28 am EST Friday (1628 GMT Friday, 12:28 am Saturday Beijing time) and released the Beidou satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about 24 minutes later. The satellite is the fourth in a series of geosynchronous orbit satellites that provide a regional satellite navigation for China. This specific satellite will initially serve as an on-orbit backup to the existing satellites, according to Chinese media accounts, and later will replace the first Beidou satellite, launched in October 2000. The country is also developing a global navigation system called Compass that China plans to deploy starting in 2008.
