BeiDou-3 was inaugurated after its final satellite completed in-orbit tests and joined the network earlier this week.

This means that China now has its own independent global navigation system, similar to GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and EU’s Galileo.

China has been developing BeiDou since the mid-1990s. Its network gradually grew to 35 operational satellites, with the last one launched on June 23 (the 55th satellite in the Beidou family).

According to Xinhua, the system has already been in use in various fields, including transportation and agriculture. The news agency said that BeiDou-based services are used in more than 100 countries and regions.

Source: RT