Tokyo, Nov. 2 (xinhua) -- the Japanese government on Monday began using a satellite navigation system known as the Japanese version of global positioning system (GPS).The navigation system currently consists of four satellites.
Japanese prime minister shinzo Abe attended the launch ceremony of the navigation satellite positioning system.He said "path-breaking" would open a new chapter in Japan's satellite positioning.
As an auxiliary application of the us GPS system, the navigation satellites can reduce the GPS positioning error to about 1 meter, and the positioning error to 6 centimeters if a special receiver is used.
Japan previously relied entirely on U.S. GPS for its satellite positioning, and the Japanese government has long wanted to build its own satellite positioning system that is compatible with GPS and improves positioning accuracy.Pilot 1 was launched in 2010.In October last year, Japan launched the fourth satellite in the "pilot" series of navigation satellites, initially setting up a separate satellite navigation and positioning system to ensure that one satellite can cover the whole Japan at any time.
Japan plans to expand the system to seven satellites by 2023 to achieve its goal of high-precision positioning without relying on GPS.Japan expects the pilot system to work in areas such as unmanned and unmanned aerial vehicles.