 Today, China successfully added a new satellite to the Beidou network. The country is in the process of building its own global satellite navigation and positioning system. Following in the footsteps of India and other countries, China wants to establish a navigation network independent of the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS). In 2000, China started it's Beidou navigation system. By the year 2003, the country has launched three Beidou satellites. However, as more people began to rely on satellite navigation, China soon realized the three satellites could not meet the demand. To resolve the situation, China developed Beidou-2. Beidou-2 was formed in 2007 and to date has launched eight additional satellites. If the project continues on track and meets its goals, the Beidou's satellites will provide coverage for the Asia-Pacific region by 2012 and then grown to global coverage by 2020. When completed, China's navigation system will consist of a total of 35 satellites. | 
