China aims to make Compass a navigation satellite system of 35 satellites by 2020, which can offer global service, the China Daily reported.

The bureau, which hosted the two-day national geological information industry summit in Beijing, .estimates that the satellite navigation industry can generate 50 billion yuan (US$8 billion) in China by 2010, up from the 12 billion yuan in 2006.

The administrators of the four systems are now in negotiations to make their civilian-use technologies compatible, Hu Gang, vice-president of Beijing BDStar Navigation Co Ltd, said.

“This could possibly allow a civilian user of global navigation satellite system to have access to more than 120 navigation satellites in the future, which will assure stability and improve accuracy,” he said.

China’s global navigation satellite system, Compass, will provide regional service in 2011 with a constellation of 12 satellites, a navigation industry insider was quoted as saying on Thursday.

The 12 satellites that will be part of the Compass program’s first phase will “improve the positioning accuracy of the satellite navigation system greatly”, he said.

Only two Compass satellites have been reportedly launched into orbit so far – one in 2007 and the other in April this year, he said.

Cao Chong, chief engineer of the China Electronics Technology Group Corp, said the car industry and the cell phone industry will be the major players of satellite navigation applications.

“China still has a huge potential for satellite navigation application, as only less than 5 percent of cars have installed navigation devices,” he said.

Source : Konaxis

Earlier reports forecast that China would complete the system before 2015.

Compass could provide civilian clients with positioning accuracy within 10 meters without charge, compared with the 5m to 6m offered by the U.S.-developed Global Positioning System (GPS), Cao said.

China has launched its second Compass navigation satellite, about two years after the first Compass module went into orbit.

Then, according to Cao, China would launch another 10 satellites within the next two years. The 12-satellite system could cover China and neighboring regions for the first phase of the Compass program.

However, the second phase, under which Compass would expand into a global network, would require at least 30 satellites, according to Cao.

China is one of a few countries with the means to develop its own navigation satellite system. By 2007, China had successfully put four experimental navigation satellites into orbit, forming the Beidou (“Big Dipper”) system, which can provide positioning accuracy within 20m.

The Beidou-based Compass system is expected to rival the U.S.-developed GPS, the EU’s GPS and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, but Cao added: “It is hard to say which one is better for now.”

Source : Konaxis