When the iPhone 12 was unveiled in October, with new features like an ultra-wide camera lens and faster processing chip, many people may have missed something in the fine print: the iPhone is compatible with Beidou’s satellite system.
Beidou, translated as ‘Big Dipper,’ is a satellite-based navigation system tasked with providing geolocation data to devices all across the globe. And it is China’s answer to GPS, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense starting in the early 1970s. The first Beidou satellite was launched by the Chinese military in 2000, and the network was completed this summer with its 55th satellite.
While Beidou is a new system, it is already making a global mark, as evidenced by companies like Apple producing Beidou compatible products, and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) signing up to use Beidou data. And the completion of Beidou is yet another example of the deepening technological fissure between China and
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