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BEIDOU-3 M20
Chinese Navigation Satellite (BeiDou-3) · CNSA / China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
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BeiDou-3 M20, part of China's global navigation constellation completed in 2020 — the culmination of a program China built after a 1990s missile test near Taiwan reportedly lost GPS guidance, convincing Chinese military planners never to depend on a foreign-controlled satellite system again. This satellite contributes signal-level interoperability deliberately engineered to work alongside GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS on the same receiver chip — most modern Chinese-market smartphones, and increasingly many international models, now include BeiDou-compatible hardware as standard.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Medium Earth Orbita high vantage point, ideal for navigation
- Altitude
- 13,359–13,404 mi (21,499–21,571 km)
- Inclination
- 56.7°
- One orbit
- 12.9 hours1.9 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 44865
- Int’l designator
- 2019-090B
- Launched
- 2019
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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