Russian Officials Concerned over Reduced GLONASS Funding

Plans to reduce funding for GLONASS is causing concern among deputies of the State Duma. The government officials predict a loss of trust in the world by the Russian navigation system, according to a July 29 Roscosmos article.

Reduced funding of GLONASS will lead to a reduction of the orbital grouping system below acceptable levels, according to the first deputy chairman of the Committee on Industry, Vladimir Gutenev. The U.S. GPS system is functioning and both Europe and China are developing systems, Galileo and COMPASS respectively. This will “lead to the loss of confidence of the international community in the GLONASS system and, consequently, to a reduction in its use globally. Russia will lose a strategic global instrument of political and economic prestige,” Gutenev warned.

The proposal is to reduce budget funding of the state space program in 2014 by 11.7 billion rubles, in 2015 by 13.5 billion rubles, and in 2016 by 40 billion rubles, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency. In addition, the federal space program of Russia for 2006-2015 already lacks 10.5 billion rubles funding, and this year there has been a 2.3-billion-ruble additional reduction in R&D.The funding was in part intended to build and put into operation phase 1 of the Vostochny booster side building, which would use the Soyuz-2 space rocket system.

The State Duma, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency, has recommended that the government of the Russian Federation maintains funding of federal programs on space matters in the amount provided by an approved state program.