In ancient times, our ancestors relied on stars to guide them on a clear night. Today, we have navigational systems to help us find our way, with the latest being the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).
古时候，我们的祖先通过观测晴朗夜空中的星星来指引方向。如今，我们拥有了能够帮助我们辨路的导航系统，其中最新的技术便是北斗卫星导航系统。

The BDS is entirely built by Chinese engineers. With the launch of the last satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on June 23, the global network of 59 satellites has been completed. On July 31, Beidou started providing full-scale global services. It’s difficult to imagine the great impact those satellites, orbiting the Earth, have on our daily lives.
北斗卫星导航系统完全由中国工程师研发建设。6月23日，随着最后一颗组网卫星于西昌卫星发射中心成功发射，由59颗卫星组成的全球网络全部部署完成。7月31日，北斗卫星导航系统开始提供全方位的全球服务。很难想象，这些围绕地球运转的卫星对我们的日常生活产生了重大影响。

When you unlock one of Hellobike’s bicycles, you are using the BDS. The popular bike-sharing company came out with two new bike models this year that are equipped with the positioning service. “The intelligent lock on each bike receives Beidou satellite signals and sends positioning information to the data center, which will help collect big data on the bikes and estimate users’ riding demands in advance according to the data,” Chu Yiqun, a manager of Hellobike told Xinhua News Agency. Users can also find shared bikes more accurately thanks to Beidou’s global positioning accuracy of 2.34 meters.
当你解锁一辆哈啰单车时，你便在使用北斗卫星导航系统。这家广受欢迎的共享单车公司今年推出了两款配有定位服务的全新单车车型。“每辆单车上的智能锁能够接收北斗卫星的信号，并将定位信息发送至数据中心，数据中心将收集单车的大数据，并根据数据提前预测用户的骑行需求，”哈啰单车经理褚轶群在接受新华社采访时如此表示。由于北斗系统全球实测定位精度均值为2.34米，用户们也能更准确地找到共享单车的位置。

However, the BDS doesn’t just work one way. As the country’s largest space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, along with the United States’ GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo, Beidou adopts a unique two-way communication system, including its ability to receive messages sent by people from areas with poor communication signals. Obviously, this exclusive function isn’t designed for users to chat online. Instead, it plays a role when disasters occur and communications are blocked.
但北斗系统并非只提供单向服务。作为我国最大的航天系统，也是全球四大导航系统之一（其余三个分别为美国全球定位系统、俄罗斯格洛纳斯、欧洲伽利略），北斗系统采用了一种特有的双向通信系统，能够接收通讯信号欠佳地区的人们发送的信息。显然，这一独有的功能并非是用于让用户线上聊天，而是在灾难发生、通讯受阻时发挥作用。

After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, all ground-based communication facilities were interrupted. Though the first generation of Beidou could only send 120 characters in a single message at that time, communication between affected areas and rescue centers was successful. Now, Beidou’s messaging capacity has been increased to 1,200 Chinese characters in a single message. It is widely used in disaster alarms, automatic identification and information release.
2008年汶川地震后，所有地面通讯设施都被迫中断。尽管第一代北斗系统当时一次只能发送120字，但受灾地区与救援中心成功实现了通信。如今，北斗系统的短报文通信能力提升到一次1200个汉字，被广泛应用于灾难预警、自动识别以及信息发布。

As Sun Jiadong, former chief designer of the BDS said: “The application of Beidou is only limited by imagination.”
正如北斗卫星导航系统前任总设计师孙家栋院士所言：“北斗的应用只受人类想象力的限制。”

(Translator & Editor: Wamg Xingwei AND Luo Sitian)
https://www.i21st.cn/story/3572.html