It's easy to forget, given the ubiquity of GPS, that it's not the only satellite tracking system around. Russia has its own system, GLONASS (it stands for the Russian equivalent of Global Navigation Satellite System).

The system is still very much a reality in the Russian Federation, where it has been available for civilian use since 2007. Now SkyWave, a Canadian company providing of two-way satellite communication equipment and services, has launched a version of its DMR-800L satellite data communication terminal with GLONASS as well as GPS capability.

The company says it can use either system (or both together) to compute location, and is seen as ideal for operators travelling through Russia who are required for one reason or another to use GLONASS.

The GLONASS system reportedly declined into a poor state in the 1990s, but has been under repair for most of the current decade, and now offers coverage of most of Russia. It aspires to provide global coverage, but does not have enough working satellites in use yet (only 16 out of a required 24).

 

Some observers have been expecting GLONASS to adopt the same 'signal pattern' as GPS, which would mean only one receiver technology would be needed for both, but there is no sign of this happening yet.