China's Satellite Program and Beidou System - Pursuit of Space Supremacy through Independent Technology (2010s-2020s)

China's Satellite Program and Beidou System - Pursuit of Space Supremacy through Independent Technology (2010s-2020s)

China's own satellite positioning system, Beidou, has grown to compete with the U.S. GPS and become a part of the international positioning network along with Russia's GLONASS and Europe's Galileo. In the early 2000s, the pilot operation covered only the area around China, but by 2012 it had expanded to cover the Asia-Pacific region, and by 2020 it will begin global service, establishing "China's own positioning sphere. Behind this was the aim to avoid dependence on GPS, which is controlled by the U.S. military, and to build a system that does not allow its economy and military to be influenced by outside forces. The possibility of the U.S. restricting signals, especially in times of international conflict, was recognized as a real threat, and the establishment of an independent network was considered essential for China's security. Beidou has the versatility to handle not only location information but also short-form communications and disaster relief signals, and can be use
d for logistics and smartphones in the civilian field, and for maritime expansion and weapons guidance in the military field. Such versatility was seen as directly related to the enhancement of national power. At the time, the international situation was such that the U.S.-China conflict was expanding from economics to technology, and the completion of Beidou in the space field was perceived as "China's declaration to challenge U.S. GPS domination. In conjunction with China's expansion into the South China Sea and the One Belt, One Road initiative, China's space strategy was closely watched as an expansion of its geopolitical influence beyond mere technological development.