Russia Expands GPS Network With New Station in Brazil

08/10/2018 - 13h47

Russia will expand its network of satellite control bases for their own GPS system, with a fifth station in Brazil,

It will be deployed in Northern Brazil, according to the Brazilian Space Agency. The country is already the biggest host of stations outside of Russia.

Glonass, acronym for Global Navigation System by Satellite, was developed in 1982 to compete with the american GPS (Global Positioning System), which became the world's standard.

Space objects need to be controlled by systems on Earth, in order to remain in calibrated orbits at 19,100 km in altitude. This is why Russia reached to partners in other latitudes.

Because Brazil has a history of cooperation with Moscow in space research and was well positioned geographically, the Russians asked for help and in 2013 UnB (University of Brasília) received the first Glonass station outside Russia.

The equipment works automatically, sending monitoring data to Russia. One year later, Russia installed a unit for laser optical measuring. The unit needs constant maintenance and it is operated by a team of seven technicians working 12 hour shifts.

Brazil's counterpart is the access to the Russian geopositioning technology. The Russian government pays the technicians. Neither Brazil nor Russia disclosed costs for this agreement.

Currently, both iPhone and Android smartphones take signals from either GPS or Glonass.

Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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