Russia will not cut funding for its Glonass satellite navigation program despite the current economic crisis, a deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.
Glonass is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. GPS and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.
Ivanov said the Glonass grouping currently consisted of 20 satellites. The system requires 18 satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation, and 24 satellites to provide services worldwide.
A total of $360 million at the current exchange rate was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and $170 million in 2006.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a directive on September 12, 2008 allocating an additional $2.6 billion to develop the system.
Six new Glonass satellites will be added to the network in 2009.
Head of Russia’s Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, earlier said the number of satellites in the Glonass network would be increased to 30 by 2011.