China to Launch World's First Pulsar Navigation System Satellite in November

China plans to launch the world's first X-ray pulsar navigation satellite, XPNAV-1, in November, local media reported Monday. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) will base the new space navigation system on signals from 26 X-ray pulsars to be received and analyzed by the satellite, the project's lead scientist, Shuai Ping, said as quoted by the Xinhua news agency. The system, which will rely on a pulsar signal database and is set to exceed current ground-based space navigation systems in timing and accuracy, will take between five to 10 years to set up, Shuai said. More

(Source: Sputnik International - Oct 11)