Uzbekistan Considering Joining Russia’s GLONASS Navigation System for Civilian Use
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the green light for intergovernmental negotiations between Russia and Uzbekistan regarding access to the GLONASS satellite navigation system. This decision was made official with the signing of a directive on September 19.
GLONASS, which stands for Global Navigation Satellite System, was first launched in 1982 and has been operational since 1993. The system consists of 24 satellites positioned in three orbital planes at an altitude of 19,100 km above Earth’s surface, providing global coverage with high location accuracy of up to 2.5 meters.
Originally developed for military use, similar to the American GPS system, GLONASS has since expanded its applications to civilians, especially in the 2000s. The negotiations with Uzbekistan aim to grant the country access to the high-precision signal of the GLONASS system.
Back in 2019, a partnership agreement was signed between GLONASS and Uzbekistan’s geolocation system Smartgeo. This collaboration was expected to bring mutual benefits to both economies by introducing joint information services.
With the approval to initiate negotiations, it is expected that the discussions between Russia and Uzbekistan will result in an agreement that will further strengthen their cooperation in the field of satellite navigation technology.
