October 31, 2010 - Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Begad! China launched its sixth Beidou navigation satellite Sunday, me hearties, reachin' another step in a program t' provide precise positionin' services across t' Asia-Pacific region by 2012. T' satellite lifted off on a Long March 3C rocket at 1626 GMT (12:26 pm EDT) Sunday. Ya scallywag! It was just after midnight at t' Xichang launch base in southwestern China's Sichuan province. Avast, me proud beauty! T' three-stage rocket, matey, standin' 180 feet tall at liftoff, placed t' Beidou payload on course toward geosynchronous orbit, accordin' t' t' Chinese government. Accordin' t' trackin' data, t' spacecraft is in a preliminary orbit stretchin' from a low point o' 115 miles t' a high point o' about 22260 miles. Its inclination angle is 20.5 degrees. T' Beidou, or Compass, me bucko, satellite will fire its own engine t' reach a circular orbit 22300 miles above t' equator. It be t' sixth satellite launched in t' first phase o' t' system's operational fleet. T' craft launched Sunday be t' fourth platform designed for geosynchronous orbit over t' equator. Well, blow me down! One satellite is in a medium-altitude orbit more than 13000 miles high, and another spacecraft was injected in an inclined orbit t' cover Earth's polar regions. Four Beidou satellites have been sent into space so far this year. China plans one more Beidou launch in December, matey, when another satellite will be sent t' cover high latitude and polar users.