With the successful launch of the 35th medium Earth orbit satellite, the China N

ational Space Administration (CNSA) announced the completed installation of a fu

ll-scale global navigational system, known as the Beidou Navigation Satellite Sy
stem, one year ahead of schedule. This places China amongst the ranks of USA and
Russia in finally being able to operate a domestically-produced satellite navig
ation system, thereby significantly reducing their reliance on the American GPS
or Russian GLONASS in terms of global positioning, and removing any risks of sel
ective availability leading to artificially degraded signals by foreign military
establishments. The Chinese government has offered to open the civilian variant
of the technology to any customers wishing to gain access to this navigational
service. However, only the People's Liberation Army and the Pakistan Armed Force
s currently maintain access to the military variant at this time, due to defense
alliance commitments.