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At 9:43 a.m. on June 23, 2020, the 30th satellite of BDS-3 was successfully launched into the orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, marking the completion of the global constellation deployment of BDS-3.
CASIC has developed and produced atomic clock, high-performance electronic components and fasteners, and provided software evaluation services for the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), making great contributions to the construction of the system. Meanwhile, a series of software and hardware products developed by CASIC has driven the large-scale application and industrialization of BDS.
Creating a Strong "Heart" for BDS
The atomic clock is the "heart" of BDS, providing high-stability time and frequency reference signals for the system, and determining the navigation and positioning, speed measurement and timing accuracy of BDS. It is one of the core marks judging a country's ability to independently develop its navigation system.
On April 14, 2007, China's first BeiDou-2 navigation satellite equipped with the atomic clock developed by No. 203 Institute of Second Academy of CASIC was successfully launched, marking the first space trip of China's self-developed on-board atomic clock.
Since then, the R&D team had striven to make technological breakthrough, with the aim to create world-class products. By 2012, China's atomic clock technology had reached the world-class level, and the new generation BeiDou satellites had all been equipped with high-precision atomic clocks. Currently, these on-board atomic clocks have been running stably and reliably in orbit, creating a record of operation with zero fault rate among all the batches.
To further improve the positioning accuracy and long-term autonomous operation capability of BDS, the research of new on-board atomic clock was put on the agenda. In 2015, the satellite equipped with China's first domestic on-board passive atomic clock developed by No. 203 Institute was successfully launched, achieving another milestone in the field of satellite navigation in China. The atomic clock equipped for the final satellite of BDS launched this time is one of the payloads of BeiDou-3 satellite, providing strong support for the global constellation deployment of BDS.
Science will never reach its peak. The research team of CASIC is developing a new generation on-board atomic clock with better indicators and performance which can meet the accuracy requirements of BDS, aiming to enhance the global competitiveness of BDS.
Escorting the Stable and Safe Operation of BDS
In this launch mission, more than 3,000 electrical connectors, relays, secondary power supplies and other products, developed and produced by Guizhou Space Appliance Co., Ltd., have played the roles of signal transmission, control, and ON/OFF, acting as the "nerve center" of the electrical signal transmission system. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 sets of electrical products have been provided by Guizhou Space Appliance Co., Ltd. for the satellites, launch vehicles and related ground equipment during the construction of BDS-3, providing a reliable guarantee for the electrical signal transmission of BDS.
Aerospace Precision Products Co. Ltd., affiliated to CASIC, is an advanced fastener R&D institute in China. It has researched and produced hundreds of thousands of high-strength and high-performance fastener products, effectively guaranteeing the construction of BDS. These high-reliability fasteners have played an important role in improving the comprehensive performance (such as high and low temperature resistance, and fatigue resistance) of launch vehicles and satellites, and built the bodies of launch vehicles and satellites just as strong as iron, providing a solid guarantee for the physical safety and reliability of BDS.
No. 706 Institute of Second Academy and No. 304 Institute of Third Academy of CASIC have undertaken the software evaluation in the construction of BDS. The quality of software is an important factor determining the safety and stability of the entire BDS. The two institutes have undertaken important software evaluation of payload systems of BeiDou-2 and BeiDou-3 constellation satellites, as well as software reliability and safety analysis and verification of navigation task processors, providing an important guarantee for the software safety and stability of BDS.
Promoting Large-scale Application of BDS
While powering the construction of BDS, CASIC is also committed to promoting the large-scale application of the system. Up to now, nearly 20 affiliated organizations of CASIC have carried out relevant businesses, and built a relatively complete industrial chain consisting of basic components, terminal, and system integration and operation services, initially forming a large-scale development and industrialization trend.
By virtue of high-precision satellite positioning and timing technology with independent IP rights and self-developed high-precision multi-mode satellite navigation chips, China Aerospace Science & Industry Information Technology Academy can provide high-precision positioning and timing technology products and service solutions for telecom equipment manufacturers, infrastructure management departments, banks and financial enterprises. The company has developed more than 10 (6 generations) BeiDou multi-mode navigation chip models, and formed a diversified product portfolio involving high-precision timing, differential positioning and integrated navigation. These products have been applied in many fields such as transportation, logistics, justice and public security, with an annual output exceeding 2 million chips. The company has applied the integrated application technology of "communication, navigation and remote sensing" to solve data timeliness problems regarding forest environment monitoring, daily patrol inspection and emergency command, comprehensively improving the management level of forestry, grassland and nature reserves. Currently, the technology has been applied to the forestry in 30 provinces and cities across the country, with more than 300 successful cases.
Aerospace JiuTong Corporation, affiliated to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation of Third Academy, has researched and developed the "BeiDou Information-based Whole Process Supervision Platform for Road Transportation of Dangerous Chemicals" on the basis of BeiDou navigation and IoT technologies. The platform integrates multi-dimensional safety supervision and data sharing requirements of emergency, transportation, public security and other sectors, and is applied to the early warning and potential risk identification of chemical plants, as well as the active safety defense of hazardous chemicals transport vehicles, the accurate collection of vehicle operation information and alarm information, the real-time comparison of cross-sectoral data and emergency linkage. Currently, the platform has been first built and applied in Dongying City, Shandong Province, contributing to a decrease in the accident rate of hazardous chemicals transport vehicles by 75%. During the epidemic, the platform has carried out big data analysis in terms of the traveling status of local vehicles in severely-hit regions, and that of local and non-local vehicles in Dongying, providing important data support for the epidemic prevention and control in Dongying City.
