List of BeiDou satellites

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BeiDou
Country/ies of originPeople's Republic of China
TypeMilitary, Commercial
StatusOperational
CoverageGlobal
Constellation size
Nominal satellites24 MEO, 3 GEO, 3 IGSO (BeiDou-3)[1]
Current usable satellites
  • BD-3: 26 MEO, 4 GEO, 3 IGSO
  • BD-2: 3 MEO, 4 GEO, 7 IGSO
First launch30 October 2000
Last launch26 December 2023
Total launches62
Orbital characteristics
Regime(s)Geostationary orbit
Inclined geosynchronous orbit
Medium Earth orbit
Orbital heightVarious
Docking with Shijian-21 done by Compass G2
Docking dateLate December 2021[2]
Undocking dateLate January 2022[3]

This is a list of past and present satellites of the BeiDou/Compass navigation satellite system. As of December 2023, 44 satellites are operational: 7 in geostationary orbits (GEO), 10 in 55° inclined geosynchronous orbits (IGSO) and 27 in Medium Earth orbits (MEO). Furthermore, 8 satellites (4 in Medium Earth orbit, 2 in geostationary orbit and 2 in inclined geosynchronous orbit) are undergoing testing or commissioning.

Constellation design[edit]

For BeiDou-1, the system consists of 4 GEO satellites (3 active + 1 spare).[4]

For BeiDou-2, the nominal constellation consists of 35 satellites (27 MEO, 5 GEO for BeiDou-1 compatibility, 3 IGSO).[5]

For BeiDou-3, the nominal constellation consists of 30 satellites (24 MEO, 3 GEO, 3 IGSO).[1] The constellation was declared "complete" on 23 June 2020.

Satellites[edit]

Summary table[edit]

Summary of satellites, as of 26 December 2023
Constellation Launch
period
Launches Status
Success Failure Planned Operational Testing/Reserve Unhealthy/Spare Retired
1 2000–2006 4 0 0 0 0 0 4
2 2007–2019 20 0 0 15 0 0 5
3S 2015–2016 5 0 0 0 4 0 1
3 2016–present 33 0 0 29 4 0 0
Total 62 0 0 44 8 0 10

Note: 3S is the experimental / validation constellation for BeiDou-3. Although these satellites may be functional, their message format differs slightly from BD-3.

Full list[edit]

# Satellite[6] Launch date
(UTC)
Launch site Carrier rocket[7] PRN[8] Orbit[9] Status[8][9] Remarks
- BeiDou-1A 30 October 2000
16:02
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A N/A GEO 140° E Retired
December 2011
BeiDou-1, first generation experimental satellite
- BeiDou-1B 20 December 2000
16:20
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A N/A GEO 80° E Retired
December 2011
BeiDou-1, first generation experimental satellite
- BeiDou-1C 24 May 2003
16:34
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A N/A GEO 110.5° E Retired
December 2012
BeiDou-1, first generation experimental satellite
- BeiDou-1D 2 February 2007
16:28
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A N/A GEO 86° E Retired
February 2009
BeiDou-1, first generation experimental satellite
1 Compass-M1 13 April 2007
20:11
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A N/A MEO ~21,500 km Retired BeiDou-2, second generation validation satellite
2 Compass-G2 14 April 2009
16:16
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C N/A GEO drifting Retired BeiDou-2 - Sent to GEO graveyard Orbit by Shijian-21 space Debris mitigation satellite or orbital servicing vehicle in January 2022.[10]
3 Compass-G1 16 January 2010
16:12
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C N/A GEO 140.0° E Retired BeiDou-2
4 Compass-G3 2 June 2010
15:53
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C N/A GEO 79.5° E Retired
September 29, 2018
BeiDou-2, retired on 29 September 2018
5 Compass-IGSO1 31 July 2010
21:30
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3A C06 55° inclination IGSO 118° E Operational BeiDou-2
6 Compass-G4 31 October 2010
16:26
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C C04 GEO 160.0° E Operational BeiDou-2
7 Compass-IGSO2 17 December 2010
20:20
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3A C07 55° inclination IGSO 118° E Operational BeiDou-2
8 Compass-IGSO3 9 April 2011
20:47
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3A C08 55° inclination IGSO 118° E Operational BeiDou-2
9 Compass-IGSO4 26 July 2011
21:44
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3A C09 55° inclination IGSO 95° E Operational BeiDou-2
10 Compass-IGSO5 1 December 2011
21:07
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3A C10 55° inclination IGSO 95° E Operational BeiDou-2
11 Compass-G5 24 February 2012
16:12
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C C05 GEO 58.75° E Operational BeiDou-2
12 Compass-M3 29 April 2012
20:50
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B C11 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A07 Operational BeiDou-2
13 Compass-M4 C12 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A08 Operational BeiDou-2
14 Compass-M5 18 September 2012
19:10
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B N/A MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B03 Retired
October 21, 2014
BeiDou-2, transmission ended on 21 October 2014[11]
15 Compass-M6 C14 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B04 Operational BeiDou-2
16 Compass-G6 25 October 2012
15:33
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C C02 GEO 80° E Operational BeiDou-2, last satellite of the second generation[12]
17 Beidou-3 I1-S 30 March 2015
13:52
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C/YZ-1 C31 55° inclination IGSO 95° E Experiment BeiDou-3, third generation validation satellite[13]
18 Beidou-3 M1-S 25 July 2015
12:29
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C57 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A01 Experiment BeiDou-3, third generation validation satellite
19 Beidou-3 M2-S C58 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A06 Experiment BeiDou-3, third generation validation satellite
20 Beidou-3 I2-S 29 September 2015
23:13
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B C56 55° inclination IGSO 95° E Experiment BeiDou-3, third generation validation satellite
21 Beidou-3 M3-S 1 February 2016
07:29
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C/YZ-1 N/A MEO ~21,500 km Retired BeiDou-3, third generation validation satellite
22 Compass-IGSO6 29 March 2016
20:11
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A C13 55° inclination IGSO 95° E Operational BeiDou-2, for reliability redundancy improving, formerly PNR C15[11]
23 Compass-G7 12 June 2016
15:30
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3C C03 GEO 110.5° E Operational BeiDou-2, for reliability redundancy improving
24 BeiDou-3 M1 5 November 2017
11:45
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C19 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B07 Operational BeiDou-3, third generation navigation satellite. PRN C19 used until 12 June 2018.[11]
25 BeiDou-3 M2 C20 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B08 Operational BeiDou-3
26 BeiDou-3 M7 11 January 2018
23:18
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C27 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A04 Operational BeiDou-3, PRN C28 used until 12 June 2018.
27 BeiDou-3 M8 C28 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A05 Operational BeiDou-3
28 BeiDou-3 M3 12 February 2018
05:03
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C21 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B05 Operational BeiDou-3
29 BeiDou-3 M4 C22 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B06 Operational BeiDou-3
30 BeiDou-3 M9 29 March 2018
17:56
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C29 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A02 Operational BeiDou-3
31 BeiDou-3 M10 C30 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A03 Operational BeiDou-3
32 Compass-IGSO7 9 July 2018
20:58
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3A C16 55° inclination IGSO 95° E[14] Operational BeiDou-2, for reliability redundancy improving
33 BeiDou-3 M5 29 July 2018
01:48
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C23 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C07 Operational BeiDou-3
34 BeiDou-3 M6 C24 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C01 Operational BeiDou-3
35 BeiDou-3 M11 24 August 2018
23:52
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C25 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C08 Operational BeiDou-3
36 BeiDou-3 M12 C26 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C02 Operational BeiDou-3
37 BeiDou-3 M13 19 September 2018
14:07
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C32 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B01 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
38 BeiDou-3 M14 C33 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B03 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
39 BeiDou-3 M15 15 October 2018
04:23
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C34 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A07 Operational BeiDou-3
40 BeiDou-3 M16 C35 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A01 Operational BeiDou-3
41 BeiDou-3 G1 1 November 2018
15:57
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E C59 GEO 144.2° E Operational BeiDou-3
42 BeiDou-3 M17 18 November 2018
18:07
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C36 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C04 Operational BeiDou-3
43 BeiDou-3 M18 C37 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C06 Operational BeiDou-3
44 BeiDou-3 I1 20 April 2019
14:41
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/E C38 55° inclination IGSO 120° E Operational BeiDou-3
45 Compass-G8 17 May 2019
15:48
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3C C01 GEO Operational BeiDou-2, for reliability redundancy improving
46 BeiDou-3 I2 24 June 2019
18:09
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/E C39 55° inclination IGSO 120° E Operational BeiDou-3
47 BeiDou-3 M23 22 September 2019
21:10
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C45 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C03 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
48 BeiDou-3 M24 C46 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot C05 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
49 BeiDou-3 I3 4 November 2019
17:43
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E C40 55° inclination IGSO 120° E Operational BeiDou-3
50 BeiDou-3 M21 23 November 2019
00:55
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C43 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A06 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
51 BeiDou-3 M22 C44 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot A08 Operational BeiDou-3, with COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR payloads.
52 BeiDou-3 M19 16 December 2019
07:22
Xichang, LC-3 Long March 3B/YZ-1 C41 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B02 Operational BeiDou-3
53 BeiDou-3 M20 C42 MEO ~21,500 km, Slot B04 Operational BeiDou-3
54 BeiDou-3 G2 9 March 2020
11:55
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E C60 GEO Operational BeiDou-3
55 BeiDou-3 G3 23 June 2020
01:43
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E C61 GEO In-orbit testing BeiDou-3
56 BeiDou-3 G4 17 May 2023
02:49
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E C62 GEO In-orbit testing BeiDou-3
57 BeiDou-3 M25 26 December 2023
03:26
Xichang, LC-2 Long March 3B/E/YZ-1 MEO In-orbit testing BeiDou-3, for reliability redundancy improving
58 BeiDou-3 M26 MEO In-orbit testing BeiDou-3, for reliability redundancy improving

Medium Earth Orbit Satellites Orbital slots[edit]

Slot Plane
A B C
01 3-M16 3-M13 3-M6
02 3-M9 3-M19 3-M12
03 3-M10 3-M14 3-M23
04 3-M7 3-M20 3-M17
05 3-M8 3-M3 3-M24
06 3-M21 3-M4 3-M18
07 3-M15 3-M1 3-M5
08 3-M22 3-M2 3-M11
Number in italic are under commissioning.
Numbers in parentheses refer to non-operational satellites.
Animation of BeiDou-3
Around the Earth
Around the Earth - Polar view
Earth fixed frame - Equatorial view, front
Earth fixed frame - Equatorial view, side
   Earth ·    I1  ·    I2  ·    I3 ·   G1 ·   G2 ·   G3

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Update on the BeiDou Satellite Navigation System Archived 23 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. 12th ICG Meeting. Jia-Qing Ma, China Satellite Navigation Office.
  2. ^ "China's Shijian-21 towed dead satellite to a high graveyard orbit". Spacenews. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  3. ^ "China's Shijian-21 towed dead satellite to a high graveyard orbit". Spacenews. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  4. ^ Goebel, Greg (1 September 2008). "International Navigation Satellite Systems". vectorsite.net. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
  5. ^ "China Launches Another Compass GEO Navigation Satellite". Inside GNSS. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  6. ^ Spaceflight Now - Launch Log
  7. ^ "北斗卫星导航系统卫星状态". Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Constellation Status". Test and Assessment Research Center of China Satellite Navigation Office. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b "The Almanac: GPS World". GPS World. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  10. ^ "China's Shijian-21 towed dead satellite to a high graveyard orbit". 27 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b c "IGS MGEX BeiDou". mgex.igs.org. Archived from the original on 14 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  12. ^ "中国北斗,与美国GPS比肩而立". 人民日报海外版. 2 March 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  13. ^ "中国北斗导航卫星再次进入密集发射期". 中国新闻社. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  14. ^ "系统基本信息". www.csno-tarc.cn. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.

External links[edit]