Ending a record breaking year, China launched its seventh satellite as part of their large navigation system via their Long March 3A – otherwise known as the CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (Y18) – launch vehicle. The launch of BeiDou-2 ‘Compass-I2′ took place from the Xi Chang Satellite Launch Center, in Sichuan Province at 20:20UTC on Friday. The BeiDou-2 was developed in the basis of the DFH-3 satellite platform and has an expected lifespan of eight years. Read More