The Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced its intention to establish in Venezuela a monitoring and data collection station for its Glonass navigation system.
“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 install a measurement station of the Glonass system in the territory of Venezuela,” announced the Russian space agency in a statement issued on Sunday, July 24.
In March this year, Moscow and Caracas signed a cooperation agreement for space exploration. The collaboration is valid for five years and can be automatically extended for periods of five years if neither party leaves the agreement.
According to Roscosmos, the installation of the Glonass system, which is similar to the US GPS, the European Galileo and the Chinese BeiDou, will guarantee safe navigation using PPP (Precise Point Positioning) technology.
The station will monitor the open source signals of Glonass, GPS, Galileo and BeiDou systems, and transmit the measurement results in real time, added the statement.
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 launching of the first artificial satellite and sending the first human into space, despite the restrictions imposed against the USSR at that time.
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Moscow has already announced that it would withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), due to illegal sanctions imposed on Russia for the military operation in Ukraine.
The general director of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, has warned that the US is deliberating the possibility of disconnecting Russia from GPS, as part of the coercive measures on Russia.
All this is unfolding while the United States and Russia are in a fight to gain power and dominance in space. In this context, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) has expressed fear of Moscow’s advance, and acknowledged that the space could become a battlefield. Russia, however, continues to advocate for peaceful use of outer space.
(HispanTV)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC