“Technological innovation has become the main battleground of the global playing field, and competition for tech dominance will grow unprecedentedly fierce.” (Xi Jinping)

The 21st-century competition between the two economic hegemons of the world, the US and China, has exceeded the conventional domains and has now entered space. In the late 1950s, when the Soviet Union sent out its first artificial Earth satellite called ‘Sputnik’, the American scientists witnessed the Doppler effect, enabling them to estimate its orbital dynamics.

China’s Beidou now matches GPS in global coverage and surpasses it in satellite density and ground station support.

It presented American scientists with an observation that with a known satellite position, the user location on Earth is calculable, establishing the foundation of satellite navigation systems. Going through evolutions such as Transit (NAVSAT), Timation, and SECOR, the US Department of Defense (DoD) ultimately began its mega GPS Project in 1973. It was named “Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging Global Positioning System (NAVSAT GPS).”

NAVSAT GPS is an integrated military control system that has 24 satellites in six orbiting planes that were planned and configured to equip atomic clocks, disseminate accurate time signals, and maintain 24/7 coverage of the world. Further, ground stations were also installed for monitoring and uploading data. Hence, GPS became the world’s irreplaceable tool. At the outset, NAVSAT GPS was only being used by US military organizations.

Subsequently, in 1983, when Korean Air Flight 007 was shot down close to Soviet airspace, the US, under President Ronald Reagan, made GPS available to the public but with some restrictions. Consequently, in 1995, the GPS acquired full global coverage capability. Subsequently, in 2000, US President Bill Clinton eliminated the security restrictions further to the GPS, making it fully accessible to civilians. From then on, the GPS invaded all walks of human life and became the world’s go-to tool and a non-contested SATNAV king.

As the GPS is controlled by the US military, it provides deep access to track, record, and even turn off its access to adversaries. This provided the US with an upper hand and leverage over other nations. As of 2025, the GPS is in the third generational phase known as ‘GPS III.’ Seeing the usefulness of these systems, states began developing their satellite navigation initiatives, i.e., Beidou (China), Galileo (EU), GLONASS (Russia), and IRNSS (India) etc.

Iran’s shift to Beidou marks a technological and political realignment away from US digital infrastructure.

These navigation systems are listed among the top competitors of the US GPS, but the greatest challenge comes all the way from China’s Beidou. The US precision-guided attacks during the 1991 Gulf War with its GPS-dominated terrain and the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis pushed the Chinese to develop their satellite navigation system since the US, with the assistance of its GPS, synchronized its triad forces with precision and accuracy and, during periods of increased tensions, could terminate GPS to China.

In 2000, China officially initiated its first satellite navigation program called ‘Beidou 1’ that included three satellites. In subsequent years, in 2012, ‘Beidou 2’ was launched, which again enhanced regional precision, geographically covering the Asia-Pacific region. But it was ‘Beidou 3’ that, in 2020, gave China complete 24/7 global coverage, equaling that of the US GPS. Beidou 3 consists of 40-50 active satellites, and there is a much greater number of ground stations set up by China compared to the GPS.

These characteristics make the signals stronger and more amplified. In the military sphere, the Beidou surpasses the vulnerability of reliance on the US GPS, assisting China in reconnaissance, early warning, and intelligence. It further allows China to pinpoint missiles, warships, drones, and troops with precision up to centimeter-level accuracy. Politically, Beidou represents China as a global technology superpower, enhancing its soft power and giving China an upper hand in diplomatic interactions over America.

The power that owns the space will own the battlefield.

As of 2025, during the Iran-Israel war, the Iranian regime, led by Supreme Leader Syed Ali Khamenei, made a strategic choice in which it completely blocked the GPS throughout its country. Before 2025, Iran employed GPS for civilian as well as military applications, which provided the US with a strong entrenchment into its most important military and nuclear fields. Since Iran suffered a lot in Operation Rising Lion (2025) by Israel, targeting its upper echelons of military, intelligence, and nuclear leadership, and also due to the fear of the US side to switch off the GPS connection, Iran ultimately embraced China’s Beidou satellite navigation system.

Iranian officials have declared that WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc., were the real instruments behind Israel’s precision-guided attacks on its top brass of leadership. These US-controlled communication systems give them precise locations of Iranian authorities. Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg and other authorities have, in turn, rejected these claims by the Iranian side. Furthermore, the Iranian government has directed its public to remove and uninstall these US-controlled programs, such as WhatsApp and Facebook.

The dangers of service blackout, snooping, and cyberattacks pushed the Iranians to block GPS in their country. This strategic move by Iran is founded largely upon three key reasons. First, the susceptibility of cyberattacks and jamming by Israel and the US, particularly during a crisis period, meant Iran could not risk such devastation. Second, China’s Beidou not only offers technological benefits to Iran but also a geostrategic alignment.

Therefore, effectively conveying the message to the US that Iran is strategically partnered with the PRC. Third, to eliminate the danger of future targeting of its officials through these communication apps, Iran will now be employing China’s Beidou, sharing its sensitive information with the Chinese rather than the US. Therefore, China’s Beidou is giving Iran a strategic boost over its potential adversaries, the US and Israel. Iranian drones and missiles will now be controlled with much greater accuracy and precision using Beidou’s encrypted coordinates.

Beidou’s encryption capabilities give Iran improved precision for drones, missiles, and surveillance.

China’s Beidou is spread across 160 nations, giving it a user base of over one billion people. This has raised serious concerns in the US strategic circles, which are now preparing to unveil the GPS-3F version of its satellite by the 2030s. By the year 2035, China is also gearing up to launch a sophisticated and upgraded version of its Beidou-3 satellite navigation system.

China is presently adopting an approach of coming at par or cross the bar with the US, attempting to better Americans in all walks of life. Also, the new multipolar world order, under which states, particularly those of Africa and Asia, are joining strategically with China, has caused a severe loss to the US monopoly on the international system. In short, the power that owns the space will own the battlefield.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.