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BEIDOU-3 M16
Chinese Navigation Satellite (BeiDou-3) · CNSA / China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
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BeiDou-3 M16, launched in 2018, is part of the wave of satellites that brought BeiDou-3 to the edge of full global coverage. China achieved this milestone in barely three years from BeiDou-3's first 2017 satellite — a deployment pace roughly comparable to Galileo's but achieved with a considerably larger single-nation budget commitment and far less international coordination overhead. BeiDou-3's completion less than three years after this satellite's launch made it the fastest full global navigation constellation build-out any nation or bloc has achieved, edging out even Galileo's already-accelerated four-satellite launch cadence.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Medium Earth Orbita high vantage point, ideal for navigation
- Altitude
- 13,371–13,392 mi (21,518–21,552 km)
- Inclination
- 54.0°
- One orbit
- 12.9 hours1.9 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 43647
- Int’l designator
- 2018-078A
- Launched
- 2018
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 21 Sep 2026.
More navigation
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- BEIDOU-3 M20Chinese Navigation Satellite (BeiDou-3)
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