On July 30th, China’s leading satellite navigation experts convened in Kunshan to hold the first meeting for the ‘Studies on Medium-and-Long-term Strategic Planning for National Navigation and Location-based Service System Development’ program at Duke Kunshan University. Funded by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and National Natural Science Foundation (NNSF), the program gathered 12 academicians from CAE and the Chinese Academy of Science as well as 30 experts in various navigation-related fields. Sun Jiadong, acclaimed as ‘the creator of Chinese satellite system’, was present at the meeting.
This meeting aimed to address an extensive range of issues including the establishment of a national Positioning Navigation and Timing (PNT) management system, enhancement of the technological innovation capability of navigation and location-based service (LBS) and the design of a systematic solution for integrated indoor and outdoor navigation and location-based service. The strengthening of ubiquitous location-based service enhancement network and the development of high-precision dynamic time-space reference system were also among the meeting topics.
The regional Beidou Navigation Satellite System was launched in 2004 and started to offer services for the Asia-Pacific region at the end of the year 2012, which has fundamentally changed the overall development of navigation and location-based service in China. Since its operation, Beidou has demonstrated its strengths in terms of its standard service’s precision and reliability in Asian-Pacific, which is comparable to that of GPS. Additionally, Beidou’s two-way short-message service has played an important role in search and rescue operations. On July 26, China successfully launched two satellites (Beidou’s 18th and 19th), which were made with a localization rate of 98%. A range of verification tasks, including distance measurement, anti-interference and the validation of inter-satellite link technology, will be conducted subsequently.
Liu Jingnan, the program leader and DKU’s chancellor, commented that this seminar provided a platform for full communication and exchange on a wide range of issues related to the country’s statellite navigation and positioning service system as well as its industrial development. Liu also pointed out that the first meeting’s location ‘DKU as a joint-venture university’ and presence of international scholars showcase the Chinese PNT system’s openness, compatibility and international approach.
