Navigation satellite systems-2: 俄罗斯(前苏联)的GLONASSlt;pgt; The Soviets gave their own answer to GPS, with the English name of quot;Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)quot;.
Like GPS, the full GLONASS network is to include 24 satellites, consisting of 21 operational satellites and three spares. All the satellites are to transmit identical codes but at different frequencies, exactly the reverse of the scheme used for GPS.
The orbits are at an altitude of 19,100 kilometers, slightly lower than that of the GPS satellites, with the satellites placed in three orbital planes, each containing eight satellites. Each satellite completes an orbit in 11 hours 15 minutes. The planes have orbital inclinations of 64.8 degrees. GLONASS is supposed to have location accuracy capabilities roughly similar to those of GPS, but it does not impose selective availability on civilian users.
GLONASS launches began in 1982, but due to the troubled circumstances of the Soviet and successor Russian states, the full constellation has never been implemented. As of mid-2002, only eight GLONASS satellites are operational. The Russians are planning to launch more when they can get the money.
They are also working on a next-generation quot;GLONASS-Mquot; satellite, with improved signal characteristics and a design lifetime of up to eight years, rather than the current 3 year design lifetime. They ultimately hope to go to quot;GLONASS-Kquot;, which will be smaller and will have a design lifetime of ten years. |