Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of scientists working in command center, command system
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Shulei, director, Launch Observation Station, Xichang Satellite Launch Center (starting with shot 1/ending with shots 3-4):
"The system is able to show real-time information about the rocket testing process, conditions of spacecraft and ground facilities in the launch center, as well as information about sub-satellite point traces, falling points for the remains and flight situations."
3. Various of scientists working in command center

FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Animation of BeiDou navigation satellite

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Launchpad
6. Scientists working
7. Fast motion of preparation for rocket launch
8. Various of scientists working
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Shulei, director, Launch Observation Station, Xichang Satellite Launch Center (starting with shot 8/ending with shot 10):
"We used to have two independent command systems in the two launch centers. The information could not be shared or compatible with the other system, so we needed two teams to implement respective launch missions separately at the two centers. Now through the new command system, we are able to carry out launch missions at the two centers at the same time at only one place, which improves our efficiency."
10. Various of scientists working
11. Aerial shots of launchpad
12. Statue
13. Various of vehicles towing rocket
14. Scientists working
15. Fast motion of preparation for rocket launch
16. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhuang Ke, deputy chief engineer, Xichang Satellite Launch Center (starting with shot 15/ending with shot 17):
"We will further improve our launch capacity and develop rocket propellants that are non-toxic and pollution-free. Our launch center will continue to be a major one for launches of high-orbit satellites in the next 10-20 years. We will implement missions for lunar and Mars explorations."
17. Various of rocket

FILE: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
18. Rocket launch

The China-made command system improved efficiency of the launch of a Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying two new satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) on Monday.

China sent the two new satellites of the BDS into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 02:07 Monday.

The satellites will work with 17 other BDS-3 satellites already in space. They are also the 42nd and 43rd satellites of the BDS satellite family.

With the successful launch, the basic BDS constellation deployment is complete. China plans to provide navigation services with the BDS-3 to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative by the end of this year. This is a key step for BDS developing from a domestic experimental system to a regional and then a global navigation system.

The comprehensive command system played a key role in ensuring success of the launch, according to officials of the launch center.

"The system is able to show real-time information about the rocket testing process, conditions of spacecraft and ground facilities in the launch center, as well as information about sub-satellite point traces, falling points for the remains and flight situations," said Zhang Shulei, director of the Launch Observation Station of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

With an integrated platform of all data of the two launch centers respectively in southwest China's Xichang and south China's Wenchang, the command system enables either of the two centers to implement rocket launches at the same time at one place.

"We used to have two independent command systems in the two launch centers. The information could not be shared or compatible with the other system, so we needed two teams to implement respective launch missions separately at the two centers. Now through the new command system, we are able to carry out launch missions at the two centers at the same time at only one place, which improves our efficiency," said Zhang.

The Xichang Satellite Launch Center, which has implemented 124 satellite launches, over 42 percent of China's total satellite launching missions, is improving other aspects for better performances.

"We will further improve our launch capacity and develop rocket propellants that are non-toxic and pollution-free. Our launch center will continue to be a major one for launches of high-orbit satellites in the next 10-20 years. We will implement missions for lunar and Mars explorations," said Zhuang Ke, deputy chief engineer of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

China plans to launch another 11 BDS-3 satellites in the coming two years. By the end of 2020, the BeiDou system, named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation, will become global, and provide high-precision, reliable positioning, navigation and timing services anywhere in the world.

China decided to build its own satellite navigation system in 1994, and the BDS-1 system was completed in 2000. Although its service area was limited and its accuracy was not high, China had created its own navigation system with only two satellites.

Then it took China eight years to construct the BDS-2 system with over a dozen satellites, which began to service the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.

China started to build the BDS-3 system in 2009 with greatly improved technologies. Communication, data transmission and ranging among satellites can be achieved through inter-satellite links. The design life of the BDS-3 satellites has been extended from BDS-2's eight years to more than 10 years.

The BDS-3 satellites are equipped with high-precision rubidium and hydrogen atomic clocks independently developed by China. These are only a second off time every three million years.

The positioning accuracy of the BDS-3 system has been improved to 2.5 meters to 5 meters, up to twice as high as the BDS-2 system.