A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying two satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) blasts off at Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Dec. 16, 2019. (Photo by Guo Wenbin/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The China-developed Beidou Navigation System is serving general aviation companies in delivering emergency supplies to places with the most immediate needs in the anti-epidemic fight, the Science and Technology Daily reported Friday.
"We have integrated Beidou-tech into our comprehensive technical support system to facilitate those air transit missions of emergency supplies, Wang Peng, general manager with Haifeng General Aviation Technology Co., under China State Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd., was quoted as saying.
Haifeng General Aviation is now in joint hands with other major Chinese general aviation companies on a fast air delivery team based on an air transit platform, with a target to help deliver the most in need supplies to the final destinations, according to Wang.
They have put into use the Radio Navigation Satellite System (RNSS) and Radio Determination Satellite Service (RDSS) of the Beidou system to track and monitor general airplanes engaged in emergency delivery tasks. Airports along the air routes could also support planes by remote monitoring and commanding under the help of Beidou.
As of Feb. 27, the emergency air delivery team conducted more than 20 flights on missions of carrying masks, protective clothing, breathing machines, body temperature measuring devices and other emergency supplies to virus-hit areas.
China began to construct its navigation system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, in the 1990s and started serving the Asia-Pacific Region in 2012. Over the past two years, China has successfully sent 28 BDS-3 satellites and two BDS-2 satellites into orbit. ■
