The 55th satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), also the last one in the BDS-3 constellation, has started operating in the network after completing in-orbit tests and evaluation.

A carrier rocket carrying the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 23, 2020. China launched the last BDS satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:43 a.m. on Tuesday (Beijing Time). (Photo: Xinhua)

The satellite was launched at 9:43 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent into the preset orbit by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province on June 23.

The BDS is China's independently developed and operated global navigation system. It is named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation.