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Re:China's version of GPS now has more satellites than US or... by PaulAJ on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @06:11AM (#20745249)
This doesn't make sense. How can there be more satellites in the Eastern hemisphere than in the Western? Navigation satellites are in low earth orbit: they go around the earth every couple of hours. I could understand if one constellation had better polar coverage while another has better equatorial, but an east-west divide isn't physically possible (unless the Chinese are turning their satellites off when over the Americas).
Re:China's version of GPS now has more satellites than US or... by ZeKZ on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @06:23AM (#20745309)
They use a lot of geosynchronous orbits over China to have a better coverage in this area.

Take a look at the orbits here : https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Ground-tracks-of-the-Bei...

Re:China's version of GPS now has more satellites than US or... by sumanthvepa on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @06:18AM (#20745286)
It's the dynamics of the the satellites' movement that create this effect. At any point in time it is possible for there to be more satellites in one region of the sky than elsewhere. That does not mean that any one satellite stays in the same position. The satellites continue to move around the planet.
Re:China's version of GPS now has more satellites than US or... by robocat on Tuesday August 20, 2019 @07:38AM (#20745733)
Easily if using QZSS or synchronous orbits. For example the Japanese use QZSS orbits to for 3 of their satellites: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-Zenith_Satellite_Syste...