Uzbekistan may join Russia's global navigation system GLONASS for civilian use

Russia is planning to negotiate with Uzbekistan on granting access to the GLONASS satellite navigation system. A corresponding directive was signed by President Vladimir Putin.

The document, dated September 19, approves the government's proposal to hold interstate negotiations. The outcome is expected to be an agreement "to provide Uzbekistan with access to the high-precision signal of the Russian global navigation satellite system, GLONASS."

GLONASS was launched in 1982 and officially became operational in 1993. The system consists of 24 satellites moving in three orbital planes at an altitude of 19,100 km from Earth.

The system offers global coverage with a location accuracy of up to 2.5 meters. Initially, GLONASS was primarily used for military purposes, similar to its American counterpart GPS, but its civilian applications have expanded since the 2000s.

In 2019, an agreement was signed between GLONASS and Uzbekistan’s geolocation system Smartgeo. At that time, it was reported that the cooperation was expected to boost both economies through the launch of joint information services.