Carrying the last satellite of China's domestically developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or BDS, the Long March-3B launch vehicle blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Tuesday morning. Photo: VCG

The newly launched and final satellite of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) successfully entered long-term operation mode on July 1, announced the Xi'an Satellite Control Center.

All 30 satellites of the BDS-3 system are now operating in long-term mode, a major step forward for BDS in providing full services to the world, said the center.

China completed the construction of the last satellite, the 55th in the BeiDou family,and it was launched on June 23.

After flying for nearly eight days, it successfully entered its final orbit 36,000 kilometers above Earth on June 30.

The center is now conducting final tests before the satellite can be connected with

the BDS-3 system and provide services.

The BDS-3 system started to offer basic navigation services to countries and regions along the Belt and Road, as well as the world, from December 2018.