World Politics Review March 24, 2011
Global Insider: Global Navigation Satellite Systems
By The Editors
A number of attempts to create alternatives to the U.S. Global Positioning System are underway. Russia is close to completing its GLONASS system, which India plans to join, while China is working on developing its own system. In an email interview, Charles Vick, senior technical and policy analyst for GlobalSecurity.org, discussed global satellite navigation systems.
WPR: What countries are currently pursuing a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) capability and what is the status of their programs?
Charles Vick: The Global Positioning System (GPS), the global navigation system developed by the U.S., remains the primary system used by both the military and civil sectors of nations that have the operating and receiving system hardware. Russia is developing a GNSS capability, based on the former Soviet Union's heritage system, GLONASS. China is trying to catch up with its Beidou (Big Dipper) system. Beidou is being developed with a series of military satellites and a separate, second series for civil use in order to meet Beijing's geopolitical and national defense requirements. In addition, the European Space Agency (ESA) is trying to develop its own competitive system, the Galileo Navigation Satellite System.
WPR: What are the benefits -- military, commercial and diplomatic -- of these systems?
Vick: All four efforts were developed as military and commercial drivers of their host country's economy. Russia's effort, driven by a desire for returns on its national investment, is due to go international in a few months. China's is primarily a military system, with civil needs met to a lesser degree, and is part of a broader effort by China to contest U.S. geopolitical dominance. The ESA's project is aimed especially at commercial development, as well as to increase the satellite independence of European militaries.
For all these projects, the military aim is to provide high-precision navigation and targeting. The commercial incentives are driven by the funding provided via government contracts and the profits generated by the sale of products and receiving equipment, as well as support sales. Geopolitically, possession of a GNSS represents a claim to world-power status based on the independence of capability it provides over other nations.
WPR: What options do countries incapable of developing their own systems have to participate?
Vick: Those countries that do not have such capabilities must choose from the various systems available on a commercial basis for the civil side of their economies, and they must pursue a military cooperation agreement to utilize the existing systems for national defense. Few have the national means to independently create their own GNSS.
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