Xie Jun: Let BDS, the “National Icon,” Shine
“You divide the time infinitely and you keep speeding up. You take off every three years and leap over every ten years. When the 55th auspicious star rises into space, BDS illuminates the Chinese dream.”
On February 17, Xie Jun, deputy chief designer of BDS and the chief designer of BDS-3 satellites, was selected as 2020 “Touching China” Person of the Year by China Central Television (CCTV). The veteran in the aerospace industry who “has been illuminating his life journey with BDS” calmly stated to the TV audience that the years he has spent were indeed worthy of a good summary and he would continue his efforts during the next stage.
Half a year ago on July 31, 2020, BDS-3 was officially opened. At the opening ceremony, Xie Jun couldn’t help concealing his excitement. “As a member of the Communist Party of China, I am honored to join the great cause of BDS, witnessing its step-by-step growth and achieving the goal of serving the country and benefiting all mankind. It is extremely glorious.” As a matter of fact, Xie Jun has been working hard for more than 16 years for this moment.
Xie Jun was born in a family with several CPC members. With the influence of his family, he has always been excellent both in conduct and learning. In 1978, he was admitted to the National University of Defense Technology with excellent academic performance and studied at the electronic engineering department, majoring in radar. Shortly after enrolling, the school organized freshmen to visit Chairman Mao’s former residence in Shaoshan. He was deeply moved by the life story of the great leader. “Chairman Mao could resolutely join the revolution under such difficult circumstances. That is the power of the belief in communism.” Xie Jun rolled out the letter paper and wrote an application for joining the Party. “I am willing to dedicate all my strength to the prosperity of my country.”
In 1981, Xie Jun realized his dream and became a glorious member of the Communist Party of China. During the following 40 years, the faith of “dedicating all strength to my country” has been inspiring him to overcome various technical challenges and fulfil various tasks of designing models.
In 1982, Xie Jun decided to throw himself into the aerospace industry and came to the Xi’an branch of the China Academy of Space Technology after graduating from university, where he started as an antenna technician. “Very clever and hard at work” was the unanimous comment on this young man made by colleagues. During a field test, Xie Jun climbed onto a test tower as high as a dozen meters without hesitation, only finding himself light-headedness and weakness in his limbs high up above.
His colleagues under the tower felt something was wrong and quickly took him down. Only by then, everyone knew that Xie Jun had a fear of heights, but he never mentioned it. When working for the Xi’an branch, Xie Jun has successively participated in the development of major projects such as DFH-2A communication satellites and Fengyun-2 meteorological satellites. During the course, he has also grown from a technician to the main person in charge of the branch.
In 2004, the Chinese government officially approved the construction of BDS-2. Time was tight and yet there were lots of tasks. With a transfer order, Xie Jun was called to Beijing to serve as the chief designer of BDS-2. It was an unprecedented huge project. To serve the entire Asia-Pacific region, BDS-2 requires 14 satellites, therefore, the tasks for the project were more than three times that of BDS-1. BDS-2 was much larger than BDS-1 in both terms of the number of products and the technical difficulty. More importantly, time was very limited! The frequency resources and orbital position resources of the navigation satellites would only be valid for 7 years from the time of application. They would be invalid once the time was over and April 17, 2007 was the final date.
No effort shall be spared. The R&D team for BDS-2 at the China Academy of Space Technology optimized the processes and worked overtime. On the 7th day of the Lunar New Year in 2007, the BDS-2 satellite test team of the China Academy of Space Technology was dispatched to the Xichang Satellite Launch Site and established a temporary CPC committee with Xie Jun as the secretary. Everyone did their utmost, with only one belief, that is, to send the satellites into space, put them into use as soon as possible, and keep the frequency they have applied for.
In the early morning of April 14, a Long March rocket rose from the ground and sent the first medium-earth-orbit (MEO) test satellite of BDS-2 into space. Two days later, at 10 p.m. on the 16th, the signal sent by this satellite successfully reached the ground. At that moment, there were only two hours left before the expiration time of the spatial frequency specified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In the hall of the Xi’an Flight Control Center, Xie Jun and his colleagues hugged each other tightly.
In 2009, the project for constructing BDS-3 was approved while the construction of BDS-2 was progressing steadily. The goal of the project was to provide services to the entire world, which placed higher demands on both the satellites and the system. Key technologies must be developed through independent innovation. As the chief designer of BDS-3 satellites, Xie Jun travelled to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Lanzhou and other places to discuss with various research units on various technical plans. He was extremely demanding and would express his dissatisfaction even to the most intimate subordinates when they did not do their jobs well. For BDS, satellite-borne atomic clocks with high precision and strong reliability must be used. During the product test, Xie Jun stayed in the workshop and did not sleep for 36 hours. In the end, the development team addressed the key and core technologies, with all stand-alone equipment and key components of BDS-3 satellites made by China independently. The average horizontal positioning accuracy of BDS measured globally reached an astonishing 2.3 meters. With ground-based augmentation and precise point positioning, positioning services with accuracy measured in centimeters can be provided.
Today, BDS-3 is playing an important role in various fields. In Beijing, cargo vehicles equipped with BDS terminals accurately deliver goods to thousands of households every day. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, BDS intelligent equipment helps the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed train operate efficiently and accurately. In the vast ocean, BDS equipment allows crew members to report their location at any time and timely call for help in time once they are in danger.
It has always been Xie Jun’s wish for BDS to be easy to use and to make good use of BDS. Currently, he and his colleagues are still doing their best to manage and support satellites in orbit. “We must help BDS satellites operate safely and stably and provide continuous and reliable signals as well as diverse and excellent services.” Xie Jun said that the demonstration and research for the next generation of satellite navigation system have also begun with the goal of building a more ubiquitous, more integrated, and smarter national integrated positioning, navigation, and timing system by 2035 which will provide core support for intelligent and unmanned development, serving the entire world and benefiting all mankind.