Russia鈥檚 defence minister says all security restrictions on the country鈥檚 GLONASS satellite navigation system will be lifted on 1 January.
GLONASS was developed in the 1980s as the Soviet Union鈥檚 rival to the US-operated Global Positioning System (GPS). GLONASS satellites transmit two signals 鈥� an 鈥渙pen鈥� one, accurate to about 50 metres, and another, more accurate signal that has always been encoded to allow access only to the Soviet or Russian military.
The military signal鈥檚 restrictions will now be removed to foster economic development, defence minister Sergei Ivanov told the ITAR-TASS news agency on Monday.
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A fully open version of GLONASS represents another challenge for Europe鈥檚 nascent Galileo satellite navigation project: the announcement follows China鈥檚 decision to allow open access to its Beidou navigation system (see China鈥檚 satellite navigation plans threaten Galileo). Beidou is now likely to provide navigation services inside China and possibly worldwide.
Although GLONASS is well established, unlike either Galileo or Beidou, it has suffered from a lack of funding since the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991. There are 14 GLONASS satellites now in orbit, providing only patchy global coverage.
Ivanov says three new satellites will be launched on 25 December, and global coverage will be complete three years later. 鈥淏y the end of 2009, the system will be available worldwide, for which we would need to have 24 satellites,鈥� he says.