THE GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (GLONASS)

GLONASS , acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. It both complements and provides an alternative to the United States Global Positioning System (GPS) and is the only alternative navigational system in operation with global coverage and of comparable precision.

Development of GLONASS began in the Soviet Union in 1976. Beginning on 12 October 1982, numerous rocket launches added satellites to the system until the "constellation" was completed in 1995. In the 2000s (decade), the restoration of the system was made a top government priority and funding was substantially increased. GLONASS is the most expensive program of the Russian Federal Space Agency, consuming a third of its budget in 2010.

By 2010, GLONASS had achieved 100% coverage of Russia's territory and in October 2011, the full orbital constellation of 24 satellites was restored, enabling full global coverage. The GLONASS satellites' designs have undergone several upgrades, with the latest version being GLONASS-K.

The GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is similar to GPS in that it is a space-based navigation system providing global, 24 hours a day, all weather access to precise position, velocity and time information to a properly equipped user. The system became fully operational in January 1996 and consists of 24 satellites in 3 orbital planes at 19,100 km altitude, corresponding to an 11 h 15 min orbital period. Orbital inclination is 64.8° as opposed to the 55° of GPS, this has a significant impact on operations at high latitudes. Each GLONASS satellite continuously broadcasts its own precise position as well as less precise position information for the entire constellation, but the transmitted data is in the form of Earth Centred Earth Fixed (ECEF) co-ordinates and extrapolation terms, as opposed to Keplerian parameters, as is the case for GPS. The user segment consists of the equipment necessary to track the GLONASS satellites and derive position, velocity and time from the satellite data and measurements. The GLONASS control segment is similar in purpose and function to its GPS counterpart. The Co-ordinational Scientific Informational Centre (CSIC) of the Russian Space Forces provides official information on GLONASS status and plans, information and scientific method services to increase the efficiency of GLONASS applications.

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