The driving force of technology and seize the commanding heights of technology. Looking up at the sky, from the direction of the Big Dipper to the Beidou satellite navigation, we witnessed the perfect integration of ancient human wisdom and modern technological power. According to the "Beidou Satellite Navigation System Development Plan before 2035" released at the end of last year, my country will complete the research and development of key technologies for the next generation of Beidou system by 2025 and complete the construction of the next generation of Beidou system by 2035. In the new year, what core technologies are being researched by the scientific research team, and what new hard-core skills will the next generation of Beidou system have?

At the Institute of Microsatellite Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the reporter saw that scientific researchers were conducting in-orbit monitoring of the two final stars of Beidou-3, which were just launched and formed a network last year.

Li Shaoqian, general chief designer of Beidou-3 satellite system: We have just completed the satellite in orbit testing for these two stars. Now the status and indicators of all equipment on the satellite are very good.

The Beidou-3 satellite constellation consists of three types: medium-round earth orbit satellites, geostationary orbit satellites, and inclined earth-synchronous orbit satellites. The two newly launched Beidou-3 final satellites are medium-round earth orbit satellites. After entering the network, the reliability of Beidou-3 global satellite navigation system and the service performance of positioning navigation timing, global short message communications will be further improved. While supporting the stable operation of the Beidou system and the large-scale application of Beidou, relevant tests will be conducted for the upgrade of the next generation Beidou navigation satellite technology.

Shen Yuan, deputy commander-in-chief of the Beidou system, Director of the Scientific Research Management Department: The interconnection between the next generation of stars is a capability that our Beidou system must continue to enhance. In addition, the time frequency on the star is also our most core commanding height technology, so we need to carry out relevant verification work in these two aspects.

Lin Baojun, chief chief designer of Beidou-3 satellite system: We are testing our higher-precision atomic clocks, and the effect is pretty good at present. The new atomic clock has been locked in the sky, and we are already using it as the main clock. The entire new inter-star link has now been built and is being done step by step. After it is done, it can be used as a foundation for Beidou 4.

Break through key core technologies and let the Beidou shine in the sky

The Beidou system is the largest, most extensive, most extensive, most closely related to people's lives in my country so far. It is also a major achievement of more than 400 units and more than 300,000 scientific researchers across the country to develop intelligence and research. Over the past decades, breakthroughs in key core technologies such as time frequency systems, inter-satellite link technology, aerospace processors, and the seizing of technological commanding heights have allowed the Beidou system to shine in the sky and truly enter our production and life.

The time frequency system is called the "heart" of the Beidou system, providing reference time and frequency signals for the ground operation and control system. Since Beidou-1, the time frequency system developed by the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has always provided continuous and stable time frequency signals for the Beidou system, forming the Beidou time. In the laboratory, the reporter saw that scientific researchers were debugging a new type of hydrogen atomic clock, which is also the core equipment of the time frequency system, and its performance indicators directly determine the positioning accuracy of the navigation system.