Russia commits to a more aggressive schedule for Glonass

April 24, 2006 By: GPS World Staff Survey & Construction Enewsletter

ZHELEZNOGORSK, Siberia, Mar. 21, 2006 - Russia's defense minister said the country's global navigation satellite system would be available to domestic consumers for military as well for civilian purposes by the end of 2007.

"Work on the intensification [of the system] will soon be complete and the program will be adopted in the immediate future," said Sergei Ivanov, who is also deputy prime minister, during a visit to one of Russia's leading space-industry manufacturers.

The Reshetnev Research and Production Center in the central Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk is the developer of the GLONASS global navigation satellite system, which comprises radio navigation satellites that track objects on land, at sea and in space.

Ivanov said Russian space technologies remained the best in the world and that GLONASS is the best proof. But he added that the project "needs decisions to be corrected so that the technological cycle corresponds to the country's economic and financial capabilities."
Ivanov said the Defense Ministry would lift in 2006 restrictions on precise definition of coordinates so that the system can by used for civilian purposes. He said the move "would yield a considerable economic and anti-corruption effect."

Ivanov added that the Russian orbital group consisted of 96 satellites, of which 59 are used for military purposes.

The Glonass system currently has 17 satellites and two laser reflectors in orbit.

Editor’s note: As of 4/23/06, 13 Glonass satellites were operational.