China's Beidou navigation system makes breakthrough

China's independently-developed Beidou differential navigation satellite system has achieved a positioning accuracy within one meter, a major breakthrough in marine application, local authorities said Friday.

The Beidou Radio Beacon-Differential Beidou Navigation Satellite System (RBN-DBDS) is an augmentation system that provides improved positioning accuracy of the GPS-like Beidou Navigation Satellite System by broadcasting differential corrections to Beidou receivers in the medium frequency radio beacon band (285-325 khz), said Wang Cheng, a senior engineer of the Beihai Navigation Safety Administration under the Ministry of Transport, the developer of the system.

The RBN-DBDS system has passed an evaluation after more than 130 days of test trials in Tianjin Municipality. It can be applied in sailing, marine exploration and rescue, and maritime charting and monitoring.

After the system's completion, customers can receive free positioning services from Beidou and GPS with a dual-mode receiver.