China puts final satellite for Beidou into orbit

China puts final satellite for Beidou into orbit

China on Tuesday successfully put into orbit the final satellite of its Beidou navigation network, rival to the U.S.-owned GPS.

Ryan Brooks reports.

China completed a space project decades in the making Tuesday (June 23) putting the final satellite of its Beidou nevigation network into orbit.

Beidou -- the 'Big Dipper' in Chinese -- is an answer to the U.S.-owned GPS.

Beijing began developing it in the 1990s a way to help wean the military off of U.S. tech.

China has previously said the system will keep military communications secure and improve weapons targeting, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

Beidou also has major civilian applications.

More than 70% of mobile phones in China were Beidou-enabled as of last year.

Millions of taxis and buses already use Beidou signals.

And Chinese state media have said Beidou services are in use in about 120 other countries.

Many of those nations are involved in the Belt and Road initiative leader Xi Jinping's signature effort to link China up to Asia, Europe and beyond with large-scale projects.