China launches 2nd navigation satellite

BEIJING -- China successfully launched its second navigation satellite early Wednesday, as part of the country's independent global satellite navigation system.

The carrier rocket, Long March-3III, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 0:16 am.

China's Compass-G2 navigation satellite is launched on a Long March-3III carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 15, 2009. [Xinhua]

An official with the National Engineering Center of Satellite Navigation told Xinhua, the successful launch of the geostationary Earth orbit satellite was of great importance as it was the second one of the country's satellite navigation system independent from foreign technology.

The system, code named "COMPASS", is a crucial part of the country's space infrastructure for providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security among others. It can bring significant social and economic benefits, the official said.

The system can help clients know their location at any time and place with accurate longitude, latitude and altitude data, and will offer "safer" positioning, velocity, timing communications for authorized users.

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