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Russia to launch first Glonass high-orbital satellite in 2028 — Roscosmos

It is stated that creating the Glonass high-orbital space cluster of six satellites in inclined geosynchronous orbits is, undoubtedly, a new step in developing the Glonass system

MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The first Glonass navigational satellite that will make part of Russia’s high-orbital cluster will be launched in 2028 instead of 2025, Head of the Glonass Section of the Roscosmos Navigational Space Systems Department Ivan Revnivykh said on Monday.

"Creating the Glonass high-orbital space cluster of six satellites in inclined geosynchronous orbits is, undoubtedly, a new step in developing the Glonass system. The cluster’s first satellite is set to be orbited in 2028," Revnivykh said in an interview with the Glonass Bulletin magazine.

Such satellites will be able to transmit two navigational signals with code division in the L1 and L2 frequency bands and improve the accuracy and accessibility of services in complex conditions, in particular, in the Arctic, he emphasized.

"These space vehicles will also transmit high-accuracy updates under the Glonass high-accuracy system’s service," he added.

Chief Designer of Russia’s Glonass System Sergey Karutin told TASS in October 2020 that the first launch under the Glonass high-orbital segment program was scheduled for 2025. He said that the cluster would be fully deployed by late 2027 to improve the accuracy of navigation in the Eastern Hemisphere by a quarter.

As Roscosmos spokesman Dmitry Strugovets explained later on Monday, the first Glonass satellite that will make part of Russia’s high-orbital cluster will be launched within the timeframe approved in 2021.

"The timeframe announced in an interview by Head of the Glonass Section of the Roscosmos Navigational Space Systems Department Ivan Revnivykh complies with the approved and effective program documents adopted in 2021," Strugovets told reporters.

The information on delaying the date of launching the Glonass-VKK satellite by three years is untrue because the data on deploying the cluster in 2026-2027 was preliminary, he elaborated.

"The plans envisage creating a totally new supplement to the operational Glonass orbital constellation that will be set up in a different orbit and will help raise the location accuracy to centimeter precision," the Roscosmos press secretary stressed, adding that the current Glonass cluster operated excellently with an accuracy of 1.3 meters.

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Liu Pengyu said that China had "never provided lethal weapons or equipment to any party"

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Iran authorizes 130 IAEA inspectors — AEOI chief

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The yuan was up by 0.4 kopecks, reaching 12.743 rubles