Where Are We? - GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones - page 174

vaged the partnership. Later that year a retired People's Liberation Army col-
onel told a reporter that since the 1996 missile crisis in the Taiwan Strait, China
had been committed to building its own gnss. During the standoff the Chinese
army fired three gps-guided missiles toward Taiwan as a warning against seek-
ing independence, and the second two missiles went awry. Military officials
suspected someone disrupted the gps signals, and the retired colonel called
the incident an “unforgettable humiliation.” 211
China launched its sixteenth Beidou satellite in October 2012 and began
offering service across the Asia-Paciic region in late December 2012 . 212 C hina
plans to have thirty to thirty-ive satellites in orbit by 2020, providing world-
wide service. 213 Beijing announced in August 2012 that it would build eight
regional testing centers within three years to certify civilian equipment and
five development hubs to spur innovation, incubate new enterprises, and accel-
erate industrial adoption . 214 There are an estimated 30 million gps navigation
devices in use in China, compared to about 120,000 civilian and military Bei-
dou users so far. 215 Chinese officials say they will gain market share with lower
prices and better accuracy. 216
Europe's esa meanwhile launched Galileo prototypes in 2005 and 2008, the
first two operational satellites in 2011, and two more in late 2012. 217 A fact sheet
available at the esa website provides an overview of the program: The agency
currently launches satellites in pairs aboard Russian-made Soyuz rockets but
plans to begin launching four at a time aboard Arianespace rockets starting in
2014. All launches take place from the European spaceport in French Guiana.
After the first four satellites complete in-orbit validation tests, the schedule
foresees eighteen satellites in orbit by 2015 and thirty by 2020. The Galileo
constellation will have twenty-seven satellites and three spares in three orbital
planes angled ifty-six degrees above the equator. They orbit a bit higher than
gps satellites, taking fourteen hours to circle the planet. 218 Each satellite car-
ries two atomic clocks—a rubidium frequency standard and a hydrogen maser,
designated as the master clock . 219 Galileo will offer five services. A basic open
service, like gps, will be free of charge for all users. Subscriber services include
an encrypted commercial service with higher data throughput and better accu-
racy, a safety-of-life service with a built-in integrity feature to alert aviation
and maritime users of system failures, and a public regulated service with con-
trolled access for such users as police and first responders. It will also provide
search-and-rescue service linked to an international distress system. 220
Each Galileo satellite will broadcast ten coded signals. 221 Galileo's Open