The next generation of satellites for the Beidou Navigation Satellite System will represent a major upgrade over the current models, with stronger links between satellites, more autonomous timekeeping and greater resistance to signal interference, a senior scientist said.
Yang Yuanxi, deputy chief designer of the Beidou system and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, made the remarks at the 5th International Summit on Beidou System Applications, which opened on Tuesday in Zhuzhou, Hunan province.
The next-generation system will expand Beidou's capabilities from the current regional transmission of data to global services for positioning, precision enhancement and information delivery, Yang said.
Unlike current Beidou satellites, whose data relay capabilities are largely limited to regional coverage, the new satellites will be connected through laser and Ka-band links, allowing them to exchange information directly with one another across the globe.
The satellites will also carry a wider range of highly precise clocks, including cold atomic clocks, mercury atomic clocks, integrating sphere clocks and active hydrogen masers, in addition to the rubidium atomic clocks used on existing satellites.
"This full set of timekeeping devices will enable fully autonomous space-based time service, eliminating the need for continuous ground station support," Yang said.
For navigation signals, the new satellites will use L-, Ka- and S-band frequencies in a more flexible design, significantly improving their ability to withstand interference and maintain reliable signals, Yang said.
The system's operation and control will also become more intelligent and resilient, moving beyond the current fixed-and-mobile model to a framework that is more flexible and capable of continuing to function under disruptions, he said.
"Overall, the next-generation Beidou network will expand its functional scope, upgrade overall performance and become more autonomous, flexible and disruption-resistant," Yang said.
China also plans to build a low-Earth orbit satellite system to complement Beidou, Yang said.
The system will use small, relatively low-cost satellites that can be deployed flexibly to improve positioning accuracy, provide monitoring and early warning and strengthen signal coverage. By coordinating satellites in low-Earth and higher orbits, it will provide positioning, navigation and timing services, as well as short message services, while making the overall system more resilient.
Beidou is one of China's largest civilian satellite systems and one of the world's four major global navigation satellite systems, alongside the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.
Since 2000, 64 Beidou satellites have been launched on 47 Long March 3-series rockets from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The system was declared complete in July 2020 and began providing full-scale global services. More than 50 Beidou satellites are currently in service, operating in several types of orbits and providing global coverage for basic positioning services.
Mao Weiming, governor of Hunan, said at the summit that the total output value of China's Beidou industry reached 629 billion yuan ($94 billion) in 2025. The Beidou sector in Hunan registered an output value of 78.2 billion yuan, accounting for roughly 12 percent of the national total.
The summit, co-hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport and the Hunan provincial government, attracted nearly 7,000 participants from 34 countries and regions.
