Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China - July 10, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Monitor at flight control center showing rocket on launch pad
2. Long March-3A rocket carrying Beidou navigation satellite blasting off from launch pad
3. Engineers
4. Monitor at flight control center showing rocket's flying state
5. Various of monitor showing animation of rocket breaking up
6. Engineers

China sent a new navigation satellite into orbit from southwest China's Xichang Satellite Launch Center, at 04:58 on Tuesday.

The "Beidou" navigation satellite, the 32nd among the Beidou navigation system line, was launched using one of China's Long March-3A rockets. The satellite used in this operation was part of the Beidou-2 family, which represents the second generation of the system, and operates in a geosynchronous orbit.

In 2017, China began constructing the third generation of the Beidou system and eight of these satellites are now in space.

The satellite and rocket used were both developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The launch was the 280th mission of the Long March rocket series.

Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, Beidou aims to rival the U.S. GPS system, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo as a global satellite navigation system. The project was formally launched in 1994. It began serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.