Russia and China to cooperate on use of russian GPS

Russia and China to cooperate on use of GPS

25 July 2000

The Russian Interfax agency has reported that Russia and China could be close agreeing co-operation in the use and future development of Russia's global navigational system Glonass.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov has said that ways of such bilateral co-operation were explored during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing at Putin's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin.

Glonass, is a twin of the American GPS system that allows aircraft and "smart" munitions to calculate with high precision their position anywhere in the world.

The first GLONASS satellites were launched into orbit in 1982. The constellation now comprises 10 active satellites and is due for an upgrade in the next few years.


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