China Launches New Navigation Satellite Into Orbit

China launchedanother satellite Wednesday toward an orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth,marking another step in building the country's own space navigation system.

The Beidou satellite launched at 1553 GMT(11:53 a.m. EDT) on a Long March 3C rocket from the Xichang space center inSichuan province in southwestern China, where it was just before midnight.

The satellite is the fourth spacecraft to belaunched in the second-generation Beidou constellation. Two previous satelliteswere placed in geosynchronous orbit, including the system's newest memberlaunched in January. Another spacecraft is operating in an orbit about 13,000miles above Earth.

China is developing the Beidou, or Compass,navigation system to provide its military and citizens an indigenous source ofprecise navigation information. The country currently relies on the U.S. AirForce's Global Positionining System network.

The constellation is China's counterpart tothe U.S. GPS system, Russia's Glonass navigation satellites and the Galileonetwork being developed by Europe.

Stephen Clark is the Editor of Spaceflight Now, a web-based publication dedicated to covering rocket launches, human spaceflight and exploration. He joined the Spaceflight Now team in 2009 and previously wrote as a senior reporter with the Daily Texan. You can follow Stephen's latest project at SpaceflightNow.com and on Twitter.