China marks 1st anniversary of Beidou navigation system

Today marks the first anniversary of Chinese Beidou Navigation Satellite System offering services to the public in Asia. 

Beidou consists of 35 satellites. It became operational in China in December 2011, but had been restricted to the Chinese military and the government. It became open to the public in Asia-Pacific region a year ago.

China says Beidou is expected to serve global customers upon its completion in 2020. It is estimated that the market for transport, weather, and telecom spin-off services from Beidou could be worth 200 billion yuan, that's about 32 billion US dollars, by 2015.