China Launches Two BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellites

China launched two BeiDou-3 satellites into space via a single carrier rocket to support its global navigation and positioning network at 7:45 p.m. Sunday. The satellites were aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket which took off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. This is the first two BeiDou-3 satellites launched by China, as its self-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System officially began to expand into a global network. China plans to building BeiDou into a global positioning and navigation system by around 2020, making it the third country in the world after the United States and Russia to operate its own navigation system.