China Begins Using New Global Positioning Satellites 168
cswilly writes with the news that China's satellite navigation system, called Beidou, has been successfully activated. "With ten satellites now, 16 in 2012, and 35 in 2020, China is making damn sure they are independent of the U.S. military's lock on GPS. According to the article, 'Beidou, or 'Big Dipper,' would cover most parts of the Asia Pacific by next year and then the world by 2020.'" The BBC also has slightly more detailed coverage.
good (Score:5, Funny)
the more the merrier.
Re:Are they GPS satellites? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Are they GPS satellites? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, a chinese spokesperson was quoted "They are as peaceful as the american GPS satellites, and contain no more armaments than those do" - so no worries.
We do have some strange reports of a high-ranking american general running from the press conference with a panic-struck look on his face, but that's probably unrelated.
Could cause a problem for the USA.... (Score:3, Funny)
If the China system does not have the same DOP setup then it will be easy for hackers to use two receivers to read a location from both and create a correctional signal or negate the DOP that the Us military puts on the US GPS system. Giving the TERRORISTS ultra precise coordinates to invoke their TERROR
Or at least that is how Fox news will spin it.
Re:Better coverage through multiple systems (Score:3, Funny)
That was the Mormon Effect.