China's tracking ship departs for monitoring missions

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Chinese space tracking ship Yuanwang-3 departed Tuesday to carry out four maritime space monitoring and communication missions for BeiDou-3 and other satellites.

The missions will be conducted in the Pacific Ocean.

On August 7, Yuanwang-3 returned to port and finished its last mission, maritime space monitoring and communication for BeiDou-2 and other satellites.

The vessel prepared itself in terms of equipment maintenance and emergency response.

Crew members onboard the tracking ship Yuanwang-3, October 2, 2018 /Xinhua Photo

As the second-generation space tracking ship of the Yuanwang series, Yuanwang-3 entered service in the mid-1990s.

The Yuanwang-1 and Yuanwang-2 ships, China's first-generation space tracking vessels, entered service in 1979.

BeiDou, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper, is a Chinese-developed global positioning system. It currently has 38 satellites, the first of which was launched in 2000.

A model of China's BeiDou positioning system is on display at Northwestern Polytechnical University, in the city of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, April 24, 2017. /VCG Photo

BeiDou was listed on a global satellite search and rescue implementation plan in February by International Cospas-Sarsat Program (COSPAS-SARSAT), an international satellite system for search and rescue.

(Cover: China's tracking ship Yuanwang-3 sets sails for monitoring missions in the Pacific Ocean on the morning of October 2, 2018. /Xinhua Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency