China has launched commercial and public services of its Beidou satellite navigation system across the Asia-Pacific rim in earnest, after finishing trials it started last year. Civilians in the region as far as Australia were able to navigate using the satellites as of yesterday to a distance of 30 feet and speeds as low as 0.5 mph -- comparable to (WAAS-less) GPS, according to officials. Currently the nation has 16 navigation satellites along with four experimental models, and expects to provide worldwide coverage by
