中國"北斗"導航系統獲國際海事機構認可

China’s own satellite navigation system has won a stamp of approval from an international maritime body, an important step toward its goal of global acceptance for its answer to the United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS).

中國自己開發的衛星導航系統獲得了一個國際海事機構的批准，這是朝着其全球目標邁出的重要一步。該系統是對美國“全球定位系統(GPS)”的迴應，中國希望它在全球範圍內能獲得廣泛接受。

The Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations body that sets standards for international shipping, formally included Beidou in the World-Wide Radionavigation System during its Nov. 17-21 meeting. This means that the Chinese system has become the third system, after GPS and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), recognized by the United Nations body for operations at sea.

國際海事組織(International Maritime Organization--IMO)的海上安全委員會(Maritime Safety Committee)，是負責在制定國際航運標準的聯合國機構。該委員會在11月17日至21日的會議上，正式把中國的北斗系統列入全球無線電導航系統(World-Wide Radionavigation System, WWRNS)。這意味着，北斗已經成爲繼GPS和俄羅斯全球導航衛星系統(GLONASS)之後，獲得海上安全委員會認可的第三個海上作業系統。

The inclusion of Beidou “is a recognition that Beidou can provide positioning data of adequate accuracy for its coverage area,” said Kevin Pollpeter, who focuses on China’s space program and information warfare issues at the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California, San Diego.

列入北斗“是因爲它能夠在覆蓋區域內，提供足夠精確的定位數據，”凱文·波爾彼得(Kevin Pollpeter)表示。他在加州大學聖迭戈分校(University of California, San Diego)全球衝突與合作研究所(Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation)研究中國的太空計劃和信息戰問題。

China first tested the Beidou system in 2000 and has since invested billions in its development to compete with and lower the country’s dependence on GPS. It has mandated the use of the domestic system in government departments including public security, disaster relief and tourism. In January 2013, the country’s transportation authority ordered all tour buses, long-distance buses and vehicles transporting “dangerous articles” in nine provinces to install the system. New heavy trucks manufactured in the nine provinces must install the system or they will not receive transportation permits, the vice minister of transport said. The country has also installed the navigation system in more than 50,000 Chinese fishing boats, including those plying the waters of the disputed South China Sea.

中國第一次測試北斗系統是在2000年，此後該國投入數以十億計的美元來開發它，以便與與GPS抗衡，降低該國對GPS的依賴。中國規定公安、搶險救災和旅遊等政府部門使用國產系統。2013年1月，交通運輸部責令九個省爲所有旅遊大巴、長途客車和運送“危險物品”的車輛安裝北斗系統。這九個省製造的新重型卡車必須安裝該系統，否則無法獲得交通運輸許可證，交通運輸部副部長說。該國還把這種導航系統安裝在5萬多艘中國漁船上，其中包括那些在有爭議的南海海域作業的漁船。

But Beidou is not yet a mature system and is hardly poised to rival GPS globally, analysts say. Currently, GPS holds 95 percent of China’s navigation market.

但北斗還不是一個成熟系統，尚未做好在全球範圍內和GPS競爭的準備，分析師說。目前，GPS在中國導航市場上佔有95%的份額。

“I would not expect this announcement to result in an upsurge of demand for Beidou,” Mr. Pollpeter said, citing such factors as the decades-long proven reliability of GPS, its accuracy and cheaper receiver cost.

“我覺得北斗成爲全球無線電導航系統的消息，不會導致人們對它的需求高漲，”波爾彼得說，因爲GPS的可靠性經過了數十年的考驗，它有很高的準確性，而且GPS接收器也更便宜。

However, what the Beidou system does have is strong backing from the Chinese government. In 2012, the vice chairman of the country’s top military body, the Central Military Commission, urged the country’s researchers to improve the system’s capacity to prevent interference, calling the system a “milestone” for the country and military, the state news agency Xinhua reported. The following year, the country’s powerful National Development and Reform Commission drew up a national development plan for Beidou.

然而，北斗系統得到了中國政府的大力支持。據中國官方通訊社新華社報道，2012年，該國最高軍事機構中央軍事委員會副主席敦促中國研究人員提高該系統的抗干擾能力，他還稱該系統爲國家和軍隊樹立了一個“里程碑”。次年，中國強大的發改委爲北斗制定了全國性發展計劃。

Not content with the system’s adoption within China, the government has also set the goal of providing global coverage with 35 geostationary and non-geostationary orbit satellites by 2020. To promote the system’s adoption by other Asian countries, China has been offering civilian use of the service free, the director of the Beidou Satellite System Application Center told Xinhua last year.

中國政府不滿足於國內對北斗系統的採用，還設立目標，決心到2020年，用35個對地靜止和非靜止軌道的衛星提供覆蓋全球的信號。去年，北斗衛星系統應用中心的主任告訴記者，爲了促進其他亞洲國家對該系統的採用，中國免費用它提供民用服務。

The government says the system is being tested across the region, from taxi-dispatching services in Cambodia to land-use management in Myanmar.

政府說，從柬埔寨的出租車調度服務，到緬甸的土地使用管理，該系統正在亞洲各地進行測試。

“China sees development of Beidou as critical to its military and economic security and has designated it as part of its national infrastructure,” Mr. Pollpeter said.

“中國認爲北斗系統的開發是其軍事和經濟安全的關鍵要素，並將其作爲國家級基礎設施來建設，”波爾彼得說。

Beijing wants to reduce its dependence on GPS because it is concerned the United States “could disable or degrade the GPS signal to China and thus render its precision-guided smart weapons dumb,” he said. In addition, loss of navigation could also affect sectors as wide-ranging as banking and power transmission.

中國政府希望減少對GPS的依賴，因爲它擔心美國“屏蔽或減少傳送到中國的GPS信號，導致中國的精確制導智能武器無法發揮作用，”他說。此外，失去導航信號可能會給很多部門帶來影響，比如銀行和電力傳輸部門。

In addition to security concerns, there are economic factors behind the promotion of Beidou.

除了安全問題之外，推廣北斗系統也有經濟上的考量。

“The market for satellite navigation products and services in China is estimated to reach to 400 billion renminbi,” about $65 billion, by 2020 and China wants Beidou to capture 70 to 80 percent market share, Mr. Pollpeter said.

到2020年，“中國的衛星導航產品和服務市場規模可達4千億人民幣，”中國希望北斗系統能夠佔據70%至80%的市場份額，波爾彼得說。

The Chinese Ministry of Transportation sent a delegation to the Maritime Safety Committee meeting, held in London, to introduce the Chinese system. Beidou is the Chinese name for the Big Dipper constellation, one of the brightest clusters of stars in the solar system, which long served as a crucial navigational tool for travelers.

中國交通部的代表團參加了海上安全委員會在倫敦舉行的會議，並對北斗系統做了介紹。北斗是Big Dipper的中文名字，從太陽系中看去，它是最明亮的星羣，長期以來都是旅行者的重要導航標誌。

What China has been able to do in recent years is overtake Europe’s efforts with its Galileo system, said Todd E. Humphreys, assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. Galileo has not yet been included in the World-Wide Radionavigation System.

歐洲也在開發伽利略(Galileo)系統，最近幾年，中國趕超了他們，德克薩斯大學奧斯汀分校科克雷爾工程學校(University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering)的助理教授託德·E·漢弗萊斯(Todd E. Humphreys)說。伽利略尚未被列入全球無線電導航系統。

“It’s interesting that BDS” — Beidou — “began in earnest after Galileo, but has by now outpaced Galileo in establishing itself as a global system,” Mr. Humphreys said. “The Europeans are hampered by too many committees.”

“有趣的是，BDS（即北斗）比伽利略後發而先至，已經成爲了一個全球性系統，”漢弗萊斯說。“歐洲的委員會太多，阻礙了他們的步伐。”