Russia completes GLONASS constellation
24 Dec 2011
Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation system now has a full orbital constellation of 24 satellites following successful launch of the final unit from the Plesetsk spaceport at the beginning of October.
The complete system now provides a basic precision of 5m with industry sources saying it aims to be fully competitive with the US GPS network by 2015. It also aims to complement China’s Compass and the EU’s Galileo positioning systems under a development programme reportedly costing $11bn. Meanwhile, the first two satellites of the Galileo system have also now been launched. They are due to be followed by a further 28 ahead of a fully operational network in 2020.
