China's independently developed Compass Navigation Satellite
System (CNSS) has acquired area navigation capacity and will first
be used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Shanghai
Morning Post reported from the NaviForum Shanghai 2007 press
conference.
Soon the self-developed CNSS with similar functions to the
Global Positioning System will be able to navigate tours.
"Currently the CNSS has 5 navigation satellites and more will be
launched in 2008," Ran Chengqi, vice director of the China
Satellite Navigation Engineering Center said at the press
conference.
The country established a trial compass navigation system in
2003 and this trial system could provide positioning, timing, and
telegraph functions for China and the surrounding areas. It has
been applied to transportation, fishery, exploration, and forest
fire prevention; the subsequently established CNSS has improved
function.
This system will be used to divert traffic and monitor game
venues during the Beijing Olympic games. It can tell the driver the
shortest way and find him the route by which he can most quickly
get to his destination, considering the actual state of the
roads.
It is predicted that the CNSS will be used in Shanghai before
2010.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Ming'ai, December 6, 2007)