GLONASS

GLONASS, short for Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, is Russia’s global navigation satellite system. It provides real-time positioning, navigation, and timing services to users with compatible receivers and is designed to offer worldwide coverage. As a major component of global GNSS infrastructure, it operates alongside systems such as GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou.

The system began operation in the 1980s and achieved global coverage with a full constellation of 24 satellites by the mid-1990s. After a period of reduced capability in the 1990s due to funding and maintenance issues, GLONASS was renewed and expanded in the 2000s and continues to be developed to improve accuracy, reliability, and longevity of its satellites.

Technical characteristics include a medium Earth orbit with approximately 19,100 kilometers altitude and an orbital inclination around 64.8 degrees, arranged in three orbital planes. The constellation completes an orbit roughly every 11 hours and 15 minutes. Unlike some other GNSS constellations, GLONASS uses frequency-division multiple access, assigning different carrier frequencies to individual satellites on the L1 and L2 bands. Civilian receivers track these signals to determine position and time, often using two frequency channels to improve accuracy and multipath resistance.

The modernization of GLONASS has involved newer satellite generations, including GLONASS-M and GLONASS-K, which offer longer lifespans and improved performance. The system is used by civilian consumers, government and commercial users, and is interoperable with other GNSS solutions in mixed-mode receivers and timing networks.