China just launched its final satellite in homegrown GPS-like system

China successfully launched into space the final satellite of its Beidou navigation system on Tuesday. It’s Beijing’s answer to the US government-owned GPS and will help the country reduce its reliance on American technology.

According to Chinese state-run media, the satellite launch took place shortly before 10AM local time from the Xichang Satellite Center in the country’s southwestern Sichuan province. It was deemed a success about 20 minutes after launch.

China has been working on its own satellite navigation network for more than two decades. It began constructing Beidou, which means Big Dipper, in the mid 1990s. This is the third iteration of Beidou, which promises to now offer global navigation coverage and communication services after the first and second iterations provided coverage in China and eventually the Asia Pacific region. It offers an another option to the United State’s GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo. 

The launch was supposed to take place last week but was delayed due to unspecified technical issues, according to Beidou’s website.