While the US satellite systems become outdated, Russia, China and Europe are all getting a leg-up in technology advances. Given the decades-long Chinese history of spying and electronic espionage, one can also surely bet that all information contained or transferred by the civilian population will be passed on to the regime. There really is no difference between civilian or military technology (… or you name it, big business-wise) in China. The only difference is state-run Capitalism in the hands of those already belonging in the ruling party.
From the Soviet, state-run (FSB) Russia Today:
China’s rapidly-expanding rival to GPS, called BeiDou, has become available to customers across Asia-Pacific for the first time. It aims to claim a fifth of the satellite services market in the region in just three years.
Previously, the satellite constellation was only used by the country’s military and government services. Now, it is being commercialized.
“The services now available include positioning, navigation, timing and short messages for China and surrounding areas. We hope BeiDou conquers 15 to 20 percent of the satellite services market in the Asia Pacific by 2015,”BeiDou spokesman Ran Chengqi announced at a press conference in Beijing, reported by Xinhua news agency. Continue reading
Global Geopolitics 