Recently, Li Deren, who is the dean of the State Key Laboratory of Surveying Engineering in Wuhan University, and also the academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Sciences, said in an interview: "China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System will be used in personal smart phones as an application in the next year."

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The Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is a Chinese satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations: a limited test system that has been operating since 2000 and a full-scale global navigation system.

According to academician Li Deren, so far, China has launched 16 Beidou satellites, among which, 14 satellites are working. Nowadays, the BDS is offering services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2020, it is planned to serve global customers upon its completion. At that time, the BDS will be a constellation of 35 satellites, which include 5 geostationary orbit satellites for backward, and 30 non-geostationary satellites that will offer complete coverage of the globe.

"The maintenance expense for Beidou Navigation Satellite System is up to 3.3 million USD per day. If we don't optimize the use of it, that will be a terrible waste of money. So we must step up the industrial development." academician Li Deren said, "on one hand, we will develop the civil market for Beidou Navigation Satellite System; on the other hand, we will gain by selling satellite data to other countries."

According to statistics, the US generated revenue of $1.9 billion from launching services in 2011, accounting for 39 percent of the global market share, according to a report by the US Satellite Industry Association. Europe accounted for 25 percent while Russia had 19 percent of the market. Every year, global trading volume of satellite industry amounts to $300 billion per year. But China's annual profit in global satellite business is less than $100 million.