MOSCOW, Russia, May 21, 2007 - Satnews Daily - In a bold competitive move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered that Russia’s Glonass navigation satellite system, the chief competitor to the US' Global Positioning System (GPS), be provided free to customers. It also adds pressure on Europe’s delayed Galileo system, originally intended as a subscription service, to offer a similar free service.
In the presidential decree signed to this effect, Putin said access to the civilian navigation signals of Glonass is to be provided to Russian and foreign customers free of charge and without limitations. The decree also ordered that satellite navigation equipment bought by federal agencies and organizations subordinate to them should use Glonass signals.
Putin has charged the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) with coordinating work to maintain, develop and use the system for civilian and commercial needs. Russia expects to increase the number of satellites comprising its Glonass navigation system to 18 by the end of this year.
Roscosmos also said a full constellation of 24 satellites will be ready for global coverage by the end of 2009, but even with 18 satellites, Glonass is expected to be able to start providing services for military and civilian users covering Russian territory.
Glonass or the GLObal NAvigation Satellite System is a radio-based satellite navigation system developed by the former Soviet Union and now operated for Russia by the Russian Space Forces. Development on Glonass began in 1976 with a goal of global coverage by 1991, a target unmet due mainly to budgetary constraints.
Beginning in 1982, numerous satellite launches moved the system forward until the constellation was completed 1995. Following completion, however, the system rapidly fell into disrepair with the collapse of the Russian economy. Beginning in 2001, Russia committed to restoring the system by 2011, and in recent years has diversified, introducing the Indian government as a partner, and accelerated the program with a goal of global coverage by 2009.
As of this May, Glonass is not fully available. It is, however, maintained and remains partially operational. There are 11 operational satellites in the Glonass system and one new satellite in its commissioning phase.
In recent years, Russia has kept the satellite orbits optimized for navigating in Chechnya, increasing signal coverage there but at the cost of degrading coverage in the rest of the world. As of May, Glonass availability in Russia was 45 percent and average availability for the Earth was down to 31 percent. This means that at any given time of the day in Russia, there is only a 45 percent likelihood that a position fix can be calculated through Glonass.
The European Union (EU) last week decided it would take over the troubled Galileo satellite navigation project from the private sector, a decision that could cost the EU a staggering $12 billion before the 30 satellite constellation becomes operational after 2013.
There were originally to be 30 Galileo satellites in place by 2010 but the timeline for Galileo to be fully operational was moved to 2011-2012. The EU fears that China could launch its own satnav system called Compass before Galileo is fully operational. Russia is also improving its Glonass global satellite navigation fleet and will have new spacecraft in orbit by the end of this year.
