Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Wednesday that this week will begin operations in the country of the Russian GLONASS system, an alternative to GPS, in order to optimize navigation services in the Caribbean nation.
«The operation from Venezuela of the SS1-S measurement station of the Russian GLONASS system, which we signed with President Putin several years ago, is already installed and will begin operations this week to optimize navigation services in Venezuelan territory,» said President Maduro at the event celebrating the first anniversary of the Great Mission for Science, Innovation, and Technology, which took place in Miranda state.
In February 2024, authorities from both nations supervised the installation of the base.
In 2023, the Russian Roscosmos space corporation and the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities signed a contract to operate a GLONASS reference station.
According to Roscosmos, the station will improve the performance of the GLONASS system both in the Western Hemisphere and globally.
Venezuelans will be able to access GLONASS data free of charge for land, sea, and air transportation, precision agriculture, monitoring the status of industrial and infrastructure facilities, and for scientific research, according to the Russian agency.