Article Posted on : - Oct 30, 2010

China had launched a Compass navigation satellite in June this year. A file photo

BEIJING (PTI): China will launch its sixth orbiter into space in the “coming days” as part of its plans to set up indigenous satellite-navigation and positioning network, a top official said Friday.

A spokesman for the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan province said the “Beidou,” or Compass, navigation satellite will be launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket.

It will join five other satellites already in orbit to form a network, which will eventually consist of 35 satellites, the official media here reported.

China, which launched lunar orbiter Cheng'e-II on October 1, plans to send Chang'e-III in 2013 to land a rover on the Moon to collect the samples and return to earth.

It has also embarked on a massive spare programme in the recent months. All this was being regarded a test run for its plan to send a manned mission to moon by 2025.

Besides bracing itself to set up its own space station to rival the existing International Space Station (ISS) being jointly managed by Russian and US agencies, it also plans to launch a host of new satellites, including a communication satellite for Pakistan, next year to emerge as a major global player in the international aerospace industry by 2015.

China is set to re-launch itself in the global aerospace industry, with plans to take 10 per cent share of the world's commercial satellite and 15 per cent of the commercial launch business by 2015, Yin Liming, President of China Great Wall Industry Corp, (CGWIC) recently said.