Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Dec 16, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Rocket shooting into sky
2. Various of scientists at control center, screen showing rocket status

FILE: China - Date Unknown (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of animation showing satellites orbiting Earth

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Dec 16, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Ping, chief designer, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System-3 (starting with shot 3):
"The MEO satellites' orbital period doesn't match the Earth's rotation period. So seen from the ground, the satellites move from west to east to cover the globe. If you want to provide global navigation service, you have to mainly rely on the MEO satellites."

FILE: China - Date Unknown (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of animation showing BeiDou satellites orbiting Earth, forming network

Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, southwest China - Dec 16, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wang Ping, chief designer, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System-3 (starting with shot 5/ending with shots 7-8):
"When the deployment of the BeiDou global core constellations is done, the system will be able to provide all-weather, all-time, high-precision navigation, positioning and timing services anywhere around the world, expanding its service scope from regional to global. Its establishment will mark the end of China's dependence on foreign navigation satellites in positioning and timing overseas."

FILE: China - Date Unknown (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Animation showing BeiDou satellites orbiting Earth
8. Sea
9. Animation showing BeiDou system's navigation service for ships

China successfully launched two satellites of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 15:22 on Monday, marking the completion of the deployment of the core constellations of the BDS-3 global system, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

The two satellites are the 52nd and 53rd satellites of the BDS satellite family that were launched on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

So far, all 24 medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites have been sent to their designated orbits to form the core part of China's BDS-3 constellations.

China started to build the BDS-3 system in 2009. The system, independently constructed and operated by China, consists of three geostationary orbit satellites, three inclined geosynchronous orbit satellites and 24 MEO satellites.

MEO satellites are the main satellites of the BDS-3, said Wang Ping, chief designer of the BDS-3 satellites. According to the design, the 24 MEO satellites are evenly distributed over three orbital planes at an altitude of about 20,000 km and each orbital plane has eight satellites.

The design enables every location worldwide to be covered by five to six satellites at any time, which is the precondition for the system to provide global navigation service, Wang said.

"The MEO satellites' orbital period doesn't match the Earth's rotation period. So seen from the ground, the satellites move from west to east to cover the globe. If you want to provide global navigation service, you have to mainly rely on the MEO satellites," he said.

According to Wang, two more geosynchronous orbit satellites will be launched in the first six months of 2020, when the BDS-3 system will be fully completed, six months ahead of schedule.

"When the deployment of the BeiDou global core constellations is done, the system will be able to provide all-weather, all-time, high-precision navigation, positioning and timing services anywhere around the world, expanding its service scope from regional to global. Its establishment will mark the end of China's dependence on foreign navigation satellites in positioning and timing overseas," said Wang.

The first BDS-3 satellite was sent into space in 2017 and the basic BDS constellation deployment was completed at the end of last year, enabling the system to provide global service two years ahead of schedule.