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STUDY OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN POLICY BRIEF 2014-7 January 2014

The Research, Development, and Acquisition Process for the Beidou Programs

Kevin POLLPETER, Patrick BESHA, and Alanna KROLIKOWSKI

he Beidou navigation satellite system is regarded as a strategic system Tintended to diminish Chinese reliance on the U.S. Global

resistance was based on objections over the need to build a system when China (GPS). Support for Beidou, however, has not always been firm or universal. Early

also impeded on Beidou due to poor economic conditions and resource was already benefiting from the free service provided by GPS. Financial hurdles

program. Improved economic performance and a concomitant increase in constraints resulting from priority being given to the human funding and the widespread belief among the leadership that China must wean itself from foreign dependence, however, removed these impediments. Today, Beidou is regarded as a strategically important dual-use technology

conduct modern war but is also recognized as supporting the development program that is first and foremost intended to enable the Chinese military to of a new commercial industry vital to China’s national infrastructure.

The Study of Innovation and Technology in China (SITC) is a project of the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. SITC Research Briefs provide analysis and recommendations based on the work of project participants. Author’s views are their own.

1 Of China’s major defense technology the same SMS function that Beidou 1 projects, the Beidou satellite naviga- provides and, like other communica- “ Development Phasing and tion programs may have the most tion , are placed in that Procedure”out in official (航天产品项目阶段划分 documentation called far-reaching military, civil, and com- to provide the best global coverage. 和策划). These procedures are based mercial implications. China’s leaders on the procedures of other space R&D not only recognize the importance to reduce the “urban canyon” effect, organizations, and, in fact, are very of to the needs wherebyThe five IGSOsatellite satellites signals are are intended degrad- close to NASA’s R&D process, but have of a modern military and competi- ed or lost in dense urban areas. Today, tive economy, but also realize that Beidou 2 provides free-of-charge lo- the characteristics of China’s space China must develop its own satellite cation, velocity, and timing services, program.been modified to take into account in order to reduce with positioning accuracies of up to CASC divides its satellite RDA pro- its dependence on the U.S. GPS sys- 10 meters. cess into seven stages (see Figure 1): tem. As a result, Beidou is intended The rationales and support for to provide the Chinese military with the Beidou programs have evolved as 1. During the mission requirement 任务需求分析阶 an independent, Chinese-operated China’s economic circumstances have analysis stage ( 段 system that enables precision-guided changed. In the 1980s and 1990s, ) the client and the contractor strikes, operations in distant theaters, analyze mission requirements and and the integration of platforms and joined to advocate building a simple proposing initial requirements. forces in the conduct of networked satelliteelite scientists navigation and system military that officers could 2. During the feasibility stage information warfare. Beidou will also provide a regional service to meet (可行性论证阶段) the contrac- provide an independent system for national defense needs. The program use by China’s public infrastructure, was hindered by resource constraints requirements, perform a prelimi- utilities, and information and com- and slowed by leaders who did not narytor and analysis the client of the finalize technological mission munications systems. Finally, Chinese see a need to commit resources to parameters, propose feasibility policymakers expect Beidou to nur- build a system that would replace the plans, and complete a feasibility ture domestic receiver and applica- free GPS service. report. tions industries, offering consumers By the 2000s, circumstances had 3. During the planning and design and industrial users alternatives to changed. Chinese leaders saw the stage (方案设计阶段) the con- GPS-supported products. logic of ending China’s reliance on tractor selects a feasibility plan, GPS and had begun to see the com- tests the plan, and completes a mercial potential of satellite naviga- 1 THE BEIDOU PROGRAMS preliminary design review (PDR). tion technologies. Importantly, the 4. During the prototype research China has two satellite navigation government now had the means to and manufacturing stage (初样 and positioning system programs: fund large technology development 研制阶段) the contractor obtains Beidou 1 and Beidou 2 (also known programs. The rationale for building data through the design, analysis, as ). Beidou 1 was made op- a more capable, global second-gener- and testing of technologies to en- erational in 2003 and uses an active ation system now lay not only in mili- sure that the plan meets require- system comprised of two satellites tary needs, but also in its potential to ments and to verify that the tech- in , at least one drive national innovation by fostering nologies are feasible. Completion , and customer receiv- new industries and strengthening na- of this stage indicates that a criti- er/. Beidou 1 achieves tional infrastructure. These new moti- cal design review (CDR) has been accuracies of 20 meters and supports vations are introducing new forms of completed.2 a short message service (SMS) in collaboration based on civil-military which users can send messages up to integration, feasibility assessments 120 characters long. based on commercial opportunities, 1. A preliminary design (初步设计评审) Beidou 2 will replace Beidou 1, and funding to foster industrial and review is conducted when system require- but unlike Beidou 1, it will use a pas- technological development. ments have been approved, critical tech- sive system similar to GPS. By the nology requirements have been issued, a plan has been selected, and a research and time it is completed in 2020, Beidou SPACE INDUSTRY manufacturing plan has been determined. 2. A critical design review (关键设计评 RDA PROCESS 审) is conducted when detailed design ac- 2 will have 35 satellites, consisting of- The RDA process used by the tivities have been completed, design data clined25 in medium geosynchronous orbit orbit (MEO), (IGSO). 5 in China Aerospace and Technology documents have already been completed geostationary orbit (GEO), and 5 in in Corporation (CASC) for satellites is set been formulated. and qualification test plans have already The five GEO satellites will provide

2 MISSION PLANNING AND PROTOTYPE FINAL LAUNCH AND ORBITAL FEASIBILITY REQUIREMENT DESIGN RESEARCH AND RESEARCH AND ORBITAL MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING TESTING

Figure 1. The seven stages of the satellite RDA process

During the final research and cant example appears to be the adop- manufacturing stage (正样研制 factor was funding. Limited budgets tion or adaptation of foreign atomic 5. 阶段) the contractor completes a meantadvancement. that the Beidou The most program influential could technology. Although there is design based on the preliminary only obtain formal approval to ad- no evidence that Chinese instrument research and manufacturing stage vance to its prototyping stage only af- manufacturers have tried to reverse and begins manufacturing the sat- ter resources were diverted from oth- engineer the Swiss technology, such a ellite, testing the assembly and possibility cannot be ruled out. electronics, and environmental both the nation’s economic situation Technology transfer may also as- testing. Completion of this phase ater theprograms. time and Tight leaders’ budgets prioritization reflected sist the commercialization of Beidou. indicates that the satellite has In 2013 a leading developer of Bei- - Limits on funds also impaired efforts dou receivers, UniStrong, purchased sign approval. toof attract the human capable spaceflight personnel. program. the American high-precision tech- gone through final factory and de During the launch and orbital Since then, as China’s economy nology business Hemisphere GPS. testing stage (发射和在轨测试 has grown, the resource constraint The transaction included all satellite 6. 阶段) the satellite is transferred has softened. Chinese government navigation product lines and associ- to the launch site and the launch spending of approximately $US 8 bil- ated intellectual property, strength- - ening UniStrong’s marine survey, of the satellite. The satellite is then lite global system is similar to what construction, mapping, and original launched.team conducts a final inspection otherlion to countries upgrade areBeidou spending to a 35-satel on simi- equipment manufacturing technolo- gies and capacities. 7. During the orbital management it suggests that China’s reputed cost stage (在轨运行管理阶段) the advantageslar systems. inIf thisspace figure activities, is accurate, such satellite is operated in orbit. as manufacture, do not TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES exist in the area of satellite navigation. requirement analysis stage and the During the early stages of the pro- advances in four technology areas feasibilityThe first stage, two make stages, up the the mission “proj- gram, soft factors also mattered at criticalBeidou’s to progress satellite hasnavigation: benefited atomic from ect feasibility stage” (工程论证阶段). critical junctures. Advocacy and inter- , electromagnetic shielding, sat- The planning and design, preliminary ventions by senior elites and promi- ellite antennas, and receivers. research and manufacturing, and the - vancing and continuing the program. Atomic Clocks stages make up the “project research nent figures proved critical to ad- Perhaps the most important technol- andfinal manufacturing research and stage” manufacturing (工程研制 entists, , the prominent ogy innovation for the Beidou pro- 阶段). The launch and orbital testing One of China’s most influential sci gram was the development of atomic and orbital management stages make clocks to provide precise positioning, up the “launch and application stage” Qingjunscientist of and the 863Satellite Program Mapping founder and navigation, and timing information. (发射和应用阶段). NavigationChen Fangyun, Bureau and articulated PLA officer the Bu Improvements in these capabilities need for independent Chinese sat- have improved Beidou 2’s accuracy INNOVATION FACTORS ellite navigation capabilities to top to 10 meters from 20 meters for Bei- leaders and formed coalitions to se- Several innovation factors shaped the cure approval of the program. reportedly only used Chinese clocks, course of the Beidou program. Early Another hard factor, technology butdou 1.this The satellite first Beidou experienced 2 M1 satellite prob- on, hard factors imposed the most sig- transfer, has also played a role in Bei- lems with its timing mechanisms. - Subsequent satellites use a combina- nificant constraints on the program’s dou’s development. The most signifi

3 tion of domestic and Swiss atomic than imports. Commercialization ef- clocks. forts aimed at developing Beidou only satellite receiver market. Moreover, The China Aerospace and handsets and services, however, are the95 percentGPS client of basethe Chinese transcends navigation private Industry Corporatsion’s 203 Research at an early stage. individuals to include infrastructure Institute researches and builds the ru- vital to China’s economy, including bidium clocks that serve as the prima- power generation, banking, transpor- ry timing mechanism for Beidou with COMPARISON WITH GPS tation, and Internet systems. backup rubidium clocks supplied Despite the technological advances Despite these challenges, the pro- by the Swiss company SpectraTime. mentioned above, China has realized gram has made progress in encour- These clocks do not match the perfor- little or no latecomer advantage in aging its adoption by military, gov- satellite navigation in terms of speed ernment, and civilian users. During launched in 2010), but are competi- of development or performance. For border patrols, for example, military tivemance with of GPSolder Block generations IIF clocks of (firstGPS example, by 2020, the planned start units use Beidou for positioning and satellite frequency standards. date for global operation, Beidou will communication, but still appear to have taken 34 years to complete. In use GPS when needing more precise Electromagnetic Shielding comparison, the took location data. Civilian government A possible example of independent 37 years to complete GPS, if the start and industry are also reportedly in- technology development lies in elec- of the satellite navigation sys- creasingly using Beidou, including tromagnetic shielding. This special- ized, highly restricted, and critical or just 22 years if taken from the GPS component protects sensitive elec- starttem in date 1958 of 1973.is used as a benchmark, those in the financial and electrical tronics aboard a satellite. In 2007, Beidou is also inferior to GPS however,power industries have adopted and fishingBeidou andbe- damaging electromagnetic interfer- in terms of performance. Beidou’s causeforestry they offices. have lessSome demanding of these users, navi- ence degraded signals and threat- 10-meter accuracy falls short of the gation and positioning requirements. ened to derail the entire program. Maritime agencies and commercial - of defense university-based student 1989,7.6-meter and far accuracy short of provided the 3-meter by GPS ac- al customers who do not require the engineersAccording totackled program and officials, ultimately a team curacyBlock IIprovided satellites by first the current launched GPS in accuracyfisheries haverequired been singledby ground out asor ide air solved the problem, suggesting an in- IIF satellites. In fact, despite these of- navigation users. Moreover, Beidou’s novative technology breakthrough. SMS function appears to be more at- actually enjoy accuracies of several tractive to some users than its posi- Satellite Antennas centimeters,ficial figures, making most GPSthe performance users today tioning and navigation functions. For The Beidou program achieved a num- gap that much wider. instance, during the 2008 Wenchuan - In addition, GPS satellites have Earthquake rescue effort, press re- nology. Beidou 2 satellite antennas longer service lives than Beidou 2 sat- ports touted Beidou’s SMS function receiveber of domestic and transmit firsts inthe antenna timing tech sig- ellites. Beidou satellites have a service rather than its ability to provide accu- nal and SMS data. According to one life of eight years. GPS Block I satel- rate positioning information. analysis, Beidou’s signal properties lites (launched in 1978) had a service have gradually improved and now have exceptional purity, suggesting Block IIF satellites have a service life CIVIL-MILITARY INTEGRATION successive upgrades in the satellites’ oflife 12 of years five years, and this but will the becurrent increased GPS Civil-military integration (CMI) har- antennas. Beidou’s advances in this nesses the innovative potential of

to 15 years with GPS Block III. and the organizational strengths of toarea use include a domestic the first automatic Chinese level satellite con- BEIDOU ACCEPTANCE commercial high-technology firms to use a multibeam antenna, the first- Despite technological progress, ef- In practice, pursuing CMI consists of ing antenna. forts to fully integrate Beidou into adoptingthe defense measures industry to to link benefit the both.mili- trol, and the first to utilize an unfold military, industrial, and commer- - Ground Receivers cial operations remain incomplete. trial community, and the government The goal of developing capable, low- Indeed, the system operates at just throughtary, the defensethe transfer scientific of technologyand indus cost ground receivers continues to and knowledge, the co-location of fa- elude China’s commercial manufac- originally designed to handle 800,000 cilities, and the expansion of policy turers. Chinese-made receivers are users,15 percent but by of 2012 capacity. had just Beidou 120,000 was linkages between these three con- costlier and have poorer performance users and as late as 2010, GPS still had stituencies.

4 ment of chip manufacturing. However, velopment of technology intended to meet military require- this segment also features the high- may have relied on duplicative or cre- ments,While its Beidou proponents is first andare foremostincreas- est barriers to entry due to the so- ative imitation, but may now be char- ingly focused on its commercial po- phisticated technology required for acterized by incremental innovation tential. Beidou is now viewed as basic manufacturing. Chinese-made Beidou or a very modest improvement over technological infrastructure upon - existing technology. Some antenna which new and strategic emerging pensive than rival products, and cur- technology may also be characterized industries can develop. China’s goal chipsets are significantly more ex- by incremental innovation. minals in China utilize the U.S. GPS Second, the evolution of satellite research, develop, and manufacture systemrently moreand GPS than chipset. 95 percent Indeed, of terthe navigation systems in China suggests acrossis to fosterthe entire commercial satellite firmsnavigation that current Chinese low-cost leader for that both hard and soft factors have industrial chain—from chip technol- Beidou receivers is Beijing UniStrong shaped its course, their respective ogy through receivers to services for Science and Technology Co., maker of contributions varying over time. As consumers. a bare-bones receiver that costs sev- resources grew more abundant, the Policymakers envision a CMI strat- eral times more than a comparable general political environment became egy as a means to shrink the gap be- GPS unit. Competition is also increas- more supportive of science and tech- tween the near-universal utilization nology development and large-scale of GPS and the reluctant, piecemeal to add Beidou compatibility to their space activities, a precondition for adoption of Beidou. This approach GPSing, receivers. as foreign Until firms they are achieve beginning sig- Beidou activity to advance from ini- translates into measures aimed at im- - tial studies to production and launch. proving innovation and competitive- spects, Chinese companies are likely Leaders’ commitment to upgrading tonificant continue breakthroughs to focus on in developing these re military systems and shaking a reli- by establishing joint high-technology terminals, which typically utilize GPS ance on foreign systems has also en- R&D,ness in production, the field of satelliteand applications navigation chipsets. sured their support for Beidou. centers; promoting investment in The greatest source of competi- strategic and emerging industries; tive advantage for Beidou products is Beidou as an element of larger eco- and encouraging the assimilation of likely to be large government subsi- nomicIn strategies parallel, thefor developing redefinition com of- foreign technology and the develop- dies to nascent domestic technology mercial applications, reforming the ment of domestic technology. defense conglomerates, and imple- China seeks to expand the com- commercialization of Beidou targets menting civil-military integration mercialization of Beidou throughout supportfirms. Government at applications support development for the has helped channel resources toward the entire industrial chain, from chip - building and launching the satellites manufacturing, navigation mapping - on a rapid schedule. These factors technology, terminals/receivers, and tractin industrial companies; parks, low-cost including state finanloans also make innovations in the areas tocial satellite and tax navigation-related or fiscal subsidies industo at- of ground-receiver technology and believe the Beidou system and associ- try; relaxed venture capital controls applications far more probable than atedsystem domestic integration. companies Program will officialseventu- to allow more private investment in in the past and portend a satellite ally develop competitive advantages navigation industry that will be more over foreign companies in China’s and, state procurement regulations competitive against its GPS counter- navigation market. By 2020, Beidou favoringfirms pursuing domestic applications companies products; holding parts. receivers must capture 70 percent Chinese technology patents. Kevin POLLPETER is deputy director of yuan that is to be spent on Beidou the University of California Institute on of the market to offset the 60 billion CONCLUSIONS by that point. The director of China project on the Study of Innovation and Although information about the GlobalTechnology Conflict in China and Cooperation (SITC). (IGCC) a homegrown Beidou-supported ap- Beidou program is scarce, we can Space Navigation Office asserts that tentatively draw two major conclu- Patrick BESHA is a policy analyst in the sions about innovation and China’s plications industry can capture a 15 Headquarters. and a 70 to 80 percent market share RDA process. First, the program has Office of Strategy Formulation at NASA byto 202020. percent market share by 2015 achieved distinct forms of innovation Alanna KROLIKOWSKI is the - across different products and tech- Princeton-Harvard China and the mercial markets is the upstream seg- nologies. For example, the initial de- World Fellow at Harvard University’s One of the most significant com Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

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