GPS-Glonass Navigator Now Available in Russia

The folks in Russia can now enjoy the full benefits of the Russian Glonass navigation satellite system; this was made known by the Federal Space Agency through its Director. Already, the first batch of the device totaling 1000 navigator units has been sold out within 20 minutes of its released.
This is a very overwhelming sale considering the fact of its introduction to the market.The Director, Anatoly Perminoy said that "The competition for this market, which is estimated at billions of dollars, was fierce inside and outside Russia and we may still encounter unfriendly acts, some of them against the Federal Space Agency.However, the moment of truth has come, and everyone in Russia and abroad realized that the system will be created and there is no way back. Our industry is capable of making navigation units. The market was jolted, as the sellers of GPS services would lose their monopoly The fact that Russian navigation units receive signals from both Glonass and GPS makes them more precise, Perminov said. The Federal Industry Agency is in charge of the production of navigation units, while the Federal Space Agency coordinates the entire Glonass program.
The navigation units with sensor displays are 17.5 centimeters large and weigh 400 grams. They can receive 12 Glonass channels and 20 GPS channels. Next year the Federal Space Agency will launch six Glonass satellites to enlarge its orbiting cluster, Perminov said.We are drafting amendments to the federal program Global NavigationSystem. There will also be a federal program of regional uses of space exploration benefits. We will do a lot for the development of the Vostochny spaceport. Many launches will be done, primarily those of three telecom satellites, two research satellites, two manned spaceships Soyuz and five Progress freighters, as well as six Glonass satellites, he said.
As for the agency's targets for 2008, he named the drafting of a concept of Russian space activity until 2040. The concept will be discussed at the Russian Security Council in February 2008. The Glonass cluster provides for navigation support to the defense and security agencies, as well as state-run air, automobile, railroad and sea transport, geodesy and cartography and civilian users. The Glonass services are available at over 90% of the Russian territory, while the world accessibility of space navigation services nears 80%, Perminov said. A Proton-M rocket with a DM booster unit delivered three Glonass satellites to orbit on December 25. The cluster separated from the third stage of the rocket launched from the Baikonur spaceport at 10:42 p.m. Moscow time," the agency said.