MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) plans to allocate $7 million to develop a segment of the GLONASS satellite-based navigation system to improve the system's accuracy in Russia and in the Arctic, according to documentation posted on the website of state purchases on Friday.
The need for this work was prompted by problems in the development of Glonass-K high-accuracy satellites and difficulties in using Glonass ground-based stations in the Antarctic, the document says.
This project envisages adding about 4-6 satellites in geosynchronous inclined orbits to the GLONASS system. These orbits have their inclination between the polar and equatorial (geostationary) orbits and have an inclination angle of about 63 degrees. Together with GLONASS signals, this new segment will help locate objects on the territory of Russia and in the Arctic with an accuracy of 0.6 meters, the document says.
The need to create this system is prompted by "restrictions for the supply of foreign-made electronic parts and components with enhanced operational characteristics for Glonass-K satellites and delays in the creation of the ground-based space segment" and also by the fact that "control stations in the Antarctic cannot be used for time-and-frequency provision owing to the absence of mutual synchronization with the facilities on the territory of Russia," Roscosmos said.