The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced through a statement its intention to deploy a measurement collection station for its Glonass navigation system in Venezuela.
“As part of the implementation of the provisions of the agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes […]the state corporation Roscosmos plans to deploy an unsolicited measurement station of the Glonass system in the territory of Venezuela”, reads a statement from the Russian agency, issued this Sunday.
In fact, Moscow and Caracas signed a cooperation pact for space exploration last March. The collaboration is valid for five years and can be automatically extended for periods of five years if neither party denounces the agreement.
According to the note, the installation of the Glonass system, analogous to the American GPS, the European Galileo and the Chinese BeiDou, will guarantee safe navigation to consumers using PPP (Precise Point Positioning) technology.
In fact, the station, adds the text, monitors the open signals of the Glonass, GPS, Galileo and BeiDou systems, and transmits the measurement results in real time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russia will continue to develop its space program despite Western sanctions, recalling the milestones that the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) achieved, including the launch of the artificial satellite of the Earth, sending the first man into space, despite the restrictions then imposed against him.
In this sense, Moscow has already announced that it would withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), due to the sanctions imposed on Russia for its military operation in Ukraine.
In addition, as warned at the time, the general director of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, USA is studying the possibility of disconnect Russia from GPSas part of the restrictions it imposes on the Eurasian country.
All this, while the United States and Russia have been fighting to gain power and dominance in space. In this context, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) has expressed fear of Moscow’s advance, while acknowledging that space could become a battlefield.
