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Russia has earmarked $380 million for its global navigation system Glonass program in 2007, the Russian space agency said Monday, RIA Novosti reported March 26.
Glonass is a Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time. The system can also be used in geological prospecting.
According to Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency, a total of $938 million has been earmarked from the federal budget for the federal space program in 2007, and $380 million for Glonass.
Perminov also said that an additional $69 million had been allocated to secure the launch of Glonass satellites in 2008-2009.
In December 2005, President Vladimir Putin ordered the system to be ready by 2008, and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Glonass would be available to domestic users for military as well civilian purposes by the end of 2007.
Ivanov said late last year that Russia will lift all precision restrictions on Glonass beginning in 2007, which will enable accurate and unlimited commercial use of the military-controlled global positioning system.
Current restrictions limit the accuracy for civilian users of Glonass to 30 meters.
The first launch under the Glonass program took place October 12, 1982, but the system was only formally launched September 24, 1993.
