Nearly two decades have passed since China sent the first Beidou satellite into space in 2000. During that time, more Beidou satellites were sent into orbit (轨道), (form) the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). In late 2012, it began providing positioning, navigation, timing and messaging (service) to people in China and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. At the end of 2018, BDS started to serve users worldwide. Now with two more Beidou satellites (launch) on Dec 16, 2019, BDS has 53 satellites in orbit.