HARBIN, May 17. /TASS/. Russia’s satellite cluster operates steadily and navigation satellite systems of Russia and China supplement each other and help exchange data, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with students and the teaching staff of Harbin Polytechnic University on Friday.

"We should ask our colleagues about the existence time of Chinese satellites in orbit but we have considerably increased the time of using our satellites in orbit and their life cycle. And it [the satellite constellation] operates steadily. China’s BeiDou [the Chinese navigation satellite system] operates very well and we, of course, supplement each other and can exchange information," the Russian leader said.

Putin highlighted Russia’s successes in creating the Glonass navigation satellite system. As the head of state pointed out, the development of satellite navigation and data exchange considerably cut costs and "reduce the use of energy resources in the transport sector and other areas." This is especially important for ship, air, auto and railway traffic, he said.

"This is very important work. And there is no limit to improvement there. Signal accuracy and other parameters are very important. So, we are working in this direction and will keep working," the Russian president said.