On June 24-28, 2019, the Workshop on the Application of Global Navigation Satellite Systems was held in Fiji, which was supported by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and hosted by the University of the South Pacific. Experts and scholars from twenty-eight (28) countries around the world participated in the workshop. The Chinese delegation made reports concerning the construction and development of the Beidou system, Beidou’s application solutions in China’s natural disaster emergency management, ground-based augmentation systems and capacity building of GNSS education in China and its enlightenment during the workshop. Ms. Farah Uzma, 2017 GNSS participant from Pakistan, gave report during the workshop with the theme “GNSS Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring based on Vector Tracking Loop”.

During the meeting, Researcher Jing Guifei, Professor Shi Wei and representative of the Centre met with Prof. Sushil Kumar, Associate Dean of the Research & Graduate Affairs, School of Engineering and Physics, University of the South Pacific. The two sides reached an agreement on the construction of Beidou, the establishment of navigation laboratories, data processing, academic and student exchanges and cooperation on remote sensing. They signed a memorandum and reached a series of practical and feasible cooperation consensuses on detailed matters. By the time, Beihang University will provide technical support for the USP infrastructure, and USP will also provide the necessary venues and facilities for the construction of the navigation laboratory. Prof. Kumar expressed his expectation for the future cooperation between the two universities, and invited Beihang University to participate in the Pacific RS&GIS User Conference which will be held in Suva in November this year together with the Pacific GIS and Remote Sensing Committee to discuss the implementation of application cooperation.

Founded in 1968, the University of the South Pacific (USP) is located in Suva, Fiji. It is one of the only two (2) regional universities in the world and is owned by twelve (12) member states. The University has a branch campus in several South Pacific island countries with an excellent location. The establishment of a partnership between Beihang University and USP is of great significance for the further development and application of China’s satellite navigation system as well as the expansion of China’s space influence.