Russian space agency Roscosmos and the Chinese Satellite Navigation System Commission have agreed to a joint roadmap on cooperation for 2021-2025.

The strategy includes plans for the development of navigational systems — Russia’s GLONASS and China’s BeiDou — through boosting their compatibility and complementarity, as well as placement of ground-based measuring sites on the territory of both states.

The roadmap entails plans for monitoring and evaluation of the features of GNSS and the joint application of navigation technologies to promote the socio-economic development of Russia and China, Roscosmos added.

In 2018, Russia and China reached an agreement to cooperate on the use of their GNSS for peaceful purposes. The accord was ratified the following year.

In mid-September, Roscosmos unveiled its plans to start installing GLONASS ground stations across China’s Shanghai, Urumqi, and Changchun regions by the end of this year. China is expected to place its BeiDou stations in the Russian cities of Obninsk, Irkutsk, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.

Image: from Compass Status presentation: http://www.filasinternational.eu/sidereus-project/pdf/02.pdf

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“We have a reciprocal process: we need to place GLONASS stations in China, and they are over here (in Russia). Now we have started active work. I hope that the installation will begin this year. We will make every effort for this,” Saveliev said.

In 2018, the two countries reached an agreement to cooperate on the use of their respective GNSS for peaceful purposes, with the document ratified the next year. China will install BeiDou ground monitoring stations across Russia.

The Precision Instrument-Making Systems research and production corporation, part of the state space corporation Roscosmos, also plans to place GLONASS monitoring stations in Brazil, China, Indonesia, India and Angola, the corporation said.

“In the near future another six non-request measuring stations are to be placed abroad: two in Brazil (Belem and Colorado de Oeste), one in China (Shanghai), one in Indonesia (Bukittinggi, West Sumatra), one in India (Bangalore) and one in Angola (Luanda),” the corporation said.

Negotiations with foreign partners have been held and on-site reconnaissance work carried out and contracts are being coordinated. “All contracts for deploying and operating the equipment were signed with Brazil back in 2020. All permissions to take the equipment out of Russia were obtained, too,” the corporation said. Last year Russian specialists were unable to go to Brazil for assembling the equipment due to the pandemic. The deployment work was postponed till 2021-2022, when the epidemiological situation gets back to normal.

The equipment from Precision Instrument-Making Systems is meant for enhancing the accuracy and improving other parameters of the system GLONASS.

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“We are launching our first GLONASS-K2 satellite this year,” Testoyedov stated to the Russian TASS news agency. “This launch is planned for the fourth quarter of the year.”

According to Testoyedov, deliveries of all on-board equipment have been completed in full. The satellite has been assembled is now undergoing a series of mechanical, thermal vacuum, and other tests. “They [tests] usually take several months,” he added.

The GLONASS constellation currently comprises 28 satellites, with 23 space vehicles operating pursuant to their designation. By 2030 the GLONASS constellation will consist wholly of K2 space vehicles, 24 of them.

The K2 generation has been repeatedly postponed over recent years, from as early as 2014 to 2017 to 2019 to now 2021. Russian government and industrial spokespersons have variously characterized the positioning accuracy improvement  furnished by K2 as going from3-5 meters to less than 1 meter, or to a user range error set by Mission Definition Requirements as 0.3 m, or enabling use for high-precision navigation with real-time errors below 0.1 m.

K2 will broadcast the legacy FDMA signals available for more than 35 years, simultaneously with CDMA signals in all GLONASS frequency bands: L1, L2 and L3.

Overall, the new K2 satellite will transmit nine navigation signals and will weigh about 1,800 kg, twice as much the latest GLONASS-K generation, known as K1. Changes in the ICD concerning FDMA and CDMA signals will ensure backward compatibility and uninterrupted operation for the existing range of user navigation equipment.

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Position, Navigation, and Timing Technologies in the 21st Century: Integrated Satellite Navigation, Sensor Systems, and Civil Applications, Set, Volumes 1 and 2 has appeared from John Wiley & Sons, alternately Wiley-IEEE Press. Altogether it encompasses, as mentioned, 64 chapters over 1970 pages, plus glossary, neatly compartmented into 6 divisions:

• Satellite Navigation Systems
• Satellite Navigation Technologies
• Satellite Navigation for Engineering and Scientific Applications (volume 1 wraps up here)

• Position, Navigation and Timing Using Radio Signals-of-Opportunity
• Position, Navigation and Timing Using Non-Radio Signals-of-Opportunity
• Position, Navigation and Timing for Consumer and Commercial Applications

The four primary editors are Y. Jade Morton, University of Colorado at Boulder and current president of the Institute of Navigation; Frank van Diggelen, Google and executive Vice President of ION; James J. Spilker, formerly of Stanford; and Bradford W. Parkinson, Stanford, chief architect for GPS and the first Director of the GPS Joint Program Office.

Assistant editors are Sherman Lo and Grace Gao, both of Stanford.

The book was the brainchild of James Spilker, according to his co-editors. “He remained a fervent supporter until his passing in October 2019. A pioneer of GPS civil signal structure and receiver technologies, Dr. Spilker was truly the inspiration behind this effort.”

In recounting the early history of GPS, Brad Parkinson recalled the most important early studies aimed at selecting the best passive ranging technique for the navigation signal. Experts including Dr. Fran Natali, Dr. Jim Spilker and Dr. Charles Cahn concluded that the best technique was a variation of a new (in the late 1960s) communications modulation known as code division multiple access (CDMA). Cahn advocated a C/A code length of 2047 chips, while Spilker wanted 511. Parkinson split the difference, yielding the code length of 1023 that the world enjoys today.

A lengthier article on this stunning assembly of erudition will appear in the May/June issue of Inside GNSS, with personal perspectives from some of the editors.

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Geoscan, which built and programmed the drones and ran the display, chose u-blox positioning technology for its ability to access positioning data from both GLONASS and GPS signals. The Geoscan Salute drones, which are ten centimeters across, were designed exclusively for use in group flights and drone shows.

The drones use u-blox NEO-M8P high precision GNSS modules to provide the positioning data necessary to ensure that they can be placed in the sky with a high degree of accuracy. This makes them less likely to collide with each other and enables them to be moved more quickly and efficiently. This produces a more fluid drone show, improved positional accuracy of each drone,  a better overall display and contiguous figure forms. Salute drones can also return to their base stations automatically at the end of a show.

The NEO-M8P high precision GNSS module used in the Salute drones implements a real-time kinematic (RTK) approach. The drones calculate their relative positions to within millimeters, and their absolute positions to within one centimeter of the intended position, according to the companies.

Geoscan has been producing drone displays for the past two years, starting with just 40 drones flying at once. Semen Lapko, Head of Drone Show Project, Geoscan, said: “The u-blox modules in our Geoscan Salute drones have improved our drones’ positioning accuracies to about one centimeter, and have helped reduce pre-launch preparation time. Drones now move more quickly and accurately, while also operating more efficiently.”

u-blox is a technology provider in positioning and wireless communication in automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.

Geoscan Group is a Russian manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and developer of photogrammetric data processing and three-dimensional data visualization software. Geoscan group has offices in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

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A recent Pravda video boasts that the GLONASS data imparts 1-meter target accuracy, though it does not specify the range at which this accuracy is achieved. It further asserts that the Tornado-S “can be considered the most powerful weapon after the atomic bomb.”

The Tornado-S missile can turn to the target in flight, following preset, GLONASS-derived parameters. “There is the main fire direction and the depression angle is calculated for each missile,” expert Viktor Murakhovsky stated for an Izvestia story on the topic. “It is similar to the vertical launch of antiaircraft missiles. They are popped up by a gunpowder pressure accumulator and the depression generator then switches on to turn the missile to the target. The MLRS missile leaves the guide and turns to the necessary angle by the azimuth. The salvo is thus distributed along the frontline.” he said.

[Images: Tornado-S 300mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System. Photos: Russian MoD)]

An MLRS guides a package of missiles to one point. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, in modern warfare troops and hardware never concentrate in one place near the frontline. Artillery, air defense, armored vehicles and infantry are deployed at a distance from each other. The new missiles can hit a group of targets at a major distance from each other in one salvo, as the simultaneously launches projectiles diverge in flight, each according to its input GLONASS-based target data. The system can automatically receive and process information from reconnaissance vehicles or drones; it does not need to be input by the operator.

“Distance and azimuth angle parameters can be preset for each missile,” add Murakhovsky. “Thus, they can destroy a battalion of air defense launchers located at a distance from each other. Ordinary projectiles can destroy one-two targets and the area around them. The new missiles have an extended elliptical destruction zone. The turning capability distributes the missiles along the frontline ten times more.”

Tornado-S has an upgraded launcher with automatic fire controls and guided and unguided longer-range missiles. The new MLRS has GLONASS satellite communications and automatic guidance and fire control system. The operator has to put in coordinates, engage the guides and fire. It is not necessary to manually put in the data. The launcher always knows its coordinates due to GLONASS and the computer can calculate the parameters for target destruction. Communication equipment transmits weather, air and missile defense data from the headquarters. They are taken into account in planning the strike.

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Developed by ISS Reshetnev and first launched in February 2011, the third-generation K satellite is a substantial improvement over the previous GLONASS-M second-generation space vehicles, with a longer lifespan and better accuracy.

In November 2014, the second and supposedly last GLONASS-K1 development satellite was placed in orbit. Shortly thereafter, Testadoyoev stated that because of Western sanctions that limited the supply of radiation-resistant electronics, Russia decided to launch nine additional GLONASS-K1 as fleet replacements while finishing the GLONASS-K2 design. However, all satellites launched since then have been the older M design.

ISS Reshetnev is now manufacturing nine Glonass-K satellites and also Glonass-K2 space vehicles and is carrying out experimental design work on modifying Glonass-K2s. It is also starting work on GLONASS-VKK (highly elliptical space system) under a new program that will be in effect in 2020-2030, Testoyedov added.

In the coming years, Russia will launch Glonass-K2 versions fully made of domestic electronic components, Testoyedov said. In 2014 when the U.S. placed export sanctions on Russia, GLONASS satellites were half-made of imported electronic components — 85% of those imported were produced in the U.S.

“We are taking measures to ensure that the share of imported electronic components falls from 50% as was the case in 2014 to 12% by 2025 (these are either available or purchased components) and from 2026 Glonass-K2 satellites will fly with the 100% Russian components base,” Testoyedov said.

GLONASS-K is the first unpressurised GLONASS satellite: its components can operate in a vacuum. Due to this, the satellite’s mass has been substantially reduced. The new satellite has an operational lifetime of 10 years, three years longer than that of GLONASS-M.

GLONASS-K will transmit the legacy FDMA signals, 2 military and 2 civilian, in the L1 and L2 bands, and additional civilian CDMA signals will be transmitted in the L1, L2, L3 and L5 bands, becoming interoperable with Galileo and GPS.

Ground Station Setting Up in Brazil

A new GLONASS reference station will begin operations in Belem, in the state of Para in Brazil. “This is the seventh non-request measuring station in the structure of the foreign segment of the GLONASS measuring stations’ network being set up by the Precision Instrument-Making Systems as part of the Signal experimental design work,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

The measuring station of the SM-Glonass system is designed to continuously monitor the signals of the GLONASS, GPS, Galileo, Compass and QZSS navigation systems. The station is also required for controlling the reliability parameters of GLONASS navigation signals.

A fifth non-request measuring station of the Glonass satellite navigation system was due to begin its operation in Brazil at the end of this year, in the country’s north. Two stations were installed in Recife (the capital of Brazil’s northeastern state of Pernambuco) and Santa Maria (in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul). Two stations of different types are operating in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to fulfilling their main task, they can also be used by Brazilian scientists for their own research.

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In February 2020, satellite manufacturer ISS-Reshetnev announced that nine new GLONASS-K satellites would fly up to the constellation by 2022. The GLONASS constellation currently counts 23 operational satellites.

The GLONASS-K version, succeeding GLONASS-M and the first generation GLONASS, features a lighter, standardized unpressurized bus, a third L-band transmitter for civilian users known as L3, principally designed for use by the aviation sector. GLONASS-K has a design life of 10 years, 3 years longer than its predecessors. The payload promises to provide more precise navigation and add a search and rescue function.

Preliminary design for GLONASS-K satellite was completed in 2002, with the expectation that 20 K satellites would be orbiting by 2011. Progressive delays pushed the first launch from 2008 to 2009 and finally 2011, and at that time ISS Reshetnev announced a replenishment phase of the older GLONASS-M satellites to take place before further K launches.

Known specifications of the GLONASS-K (14F143) satellite:

Mass: 935-974 kilograms
Payload mass: 260 kilograms
Onboard power supply:m 1,600 Watts  (1,270 and 1,460 Watts was also quoted by various sources)
Payload power consumption: 750 Watts
Attitude control accuracy: 0.5 degrees
Solar panel orientation accuracy:1 degree
Attitude control system:Active, Three-axis
Operational life span: 10 years

[Above: GLONASS-K. Image: ISS Reshetnev]

GLONASS-K continues to transmit the existing frequency division multiple access (FDMA) signals in the L1 and L2 band with two civilian signals and two military signals with higher accuracy. They introduce new, interoperable code division multiple access (CDMA) signals in the L3 Band that will be expanded to L1 and L2 CDMA signals. CDMA signals fully interoperable with GPS, Galileo and BeiDou will be implemented in the 2020s when GLONASS-KM is introduced.

The L3 CDMA signal allows an easy and low-cost implementation of multi-standard GNSS receivers. The L3OC signal is centered at 1,202.25MHz using BPSK(10) modulation for the data and pilot components.

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A giant in GPS receiver development and then a pioneer in combined GPS/GLONASS receivers, he added Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS to his lines of high-precision equipment as soon as their signals became available.

Born in Iran, he studied in the U.S., obtaining a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Iowa University. He returned to Iran in the 1970s to teach at Teheran University, but left the country following the 1978 revolution. He began his GPS career at Trimble Navigation, where he first worked on Loran-C receivers.

In 1983, he co-pioneered high precision GPS by introducing the Trimble 4000-S, a 4-channel geodetic receiver, writing its entire software. It was the first commercial geodetic GPS receiver and no one can deny that it changed the survey industry irrevocably.

He left Trimble to found Ashtech, where he rolled out several product lines constituting the first portable geodetic survey receivers, the L-12, the M-12 and the Z-12. He was the first to integrate GLONASS signals with GPS in commercial receivers. He sold Ashtech and founded Javad Positioning Systems, eventually selling that as well, founding Javad Navigation Systems and finally JAVAD GNSS in 2007. The company headquartered in San Jose, California, with a substantial R&D office in Moscow, where Javad increasingly spent most of his time.

In 2006 he was among the earliest supporters of Inside GNSS magazine.

One of those figures universally known by his first name rather than his last, he was truly a legend in his own time. I had the opportunity to work closely with him on several significant projects, and to incur his wrath on a few others. The most important of the first group was editing and publishing his personal history of “how GPS and GLONASS got together,” largely at his instigation, convening meetings of key U.S. and Russian government officials in his Moscow apartment.

A second unforgettable one was his moving tribute to his friend and mentor Charlie Trimble, given at an industry gathering in Fort Worth in 2006. The story is part of Javad lore. Newly arrived in the U.S. with not a penny to his name, sleeping on a couch in his brother’s apartment, on a Thursday he saw a job posting at Trimble Navigation. He mailed his resume on Friday, received a phone call on Monday morning, was at the Trimble office within an hour — and did not leave that day. He started work that afternoon.

And he never, ever, stopped working. GPS, then GNSS, were truly in his blood.

Javad, we will miss you. You were taken too soon.

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Capable of multi-constellation and multi-frequency (MCMF) GNSS tracking, the LD900 tracks GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo and QZSS constellations, and supports all VERIPOS correction services, which use Precise Point Positioning (PPP) to deliver centimeter-level accuracy across the globe.

The receiver supports multi-channel L-Band tracking that provides simultaneous reception of services from three satellites broadcasting VERIPOS Apex5 corrections, which reduces the risk of satellite masking or blocking to ensure continuous operations and avoid vessel downtime. Using the independent L-Band RF input on the LD900 allows the connection of a dedicated L-Band antenna ensuring optimal reception of correction services, especially at high latitudes. This availability and accuracy are well-suited for oil and gas exploration activities.

Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) corrections can be utilized by the LD900 for applications where this service is required.

The receiver’s intuitive color display and navigation menu make setup, configuration and system status monitoring simple. The display also helps troubleshoot issues with the LD900 allowing faults to be quickly diagnosed and resolved. The LD900 can also be configured remotely through the VERIPOS Quantum software.

The receiver also offers advanced signal filtering to mitigate the effects of interference from other transmitters, and automatic 72 hour rolling data log for incident support.

Receiver physical characteristics:
Size: 300 x 200 x 80 mm
Weight: 3.8 kg
Operating Temp: -15°C to +55°C
Input Voltage: +12 to +24 VDC
Power Consumption: 13 W (typical)

Marine certification allows the LD900 to be interfaced into Dynamic Positioning systems, assuring accurate and reliable positioning for critical marine operations.

“The LD900 builds upon decades of experience in satellite positioning as a technology leader in the offshore GNSS market by providing accurate, reliable and robust satellite positioning for a variety of demanding marine uses,” noted Dr. David Russell, Marine Segment Portfolio Manager, Hexagon’s Autonomy & Positioning division.

555 channels. Signal Tracking:
GPS:     L1 C/A, L1C, L2C, L2P, L5
GLONASS:      L1 C/A, L2 C/A, L2P, L3, L5
BeiDou:     B1I, B1C, B2I, B2a, B3I
Galileo:     E1, E5 AltBOC, E5a, E5b, E6
NavIC (IRNSS):     L5
SBAS:     L1, L5
QZSS:     L1 C/A, L1C, L2C, L5, L6

Horizontal Position Accuracy (RMS)

Single Point L1:  1.5 m
Single Point L1/L2: 1.2 m
SBAS: 1 m
VERIPOS DGNSS: 1 m
VERIPOS PPP:  5 cm
RTK:  1 cm + 1 ppm
Initialization time < 10 s
Initialization reliability > 99.9%

Maximum Data Rate
Measurements up to 20 Hz
Position up to 20 Hz.

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