Russian Upper House Ratifies Deal Between Russia, China on Satellite Systems Cooperation

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2019) The upper house of the Russian parliament on Friday ratified an agreement with China to cooperate on the use of Russia's GLONASS and China's BeiDou global satellite navigation systems for peaceful purposes.

"The ratification of the agreement between the Government of Russia and the Government of China on cooperation in the use of the GLONASS and BeiDou global satellite navigation systems for peaceful purposes has been approved," the statement released by the upper house said.

Developed by Russia, GLONASS is a space-based satellite navigation system that is seen as an alternative to the US-owned GPS and the European Union's Galileo.

Deputy Chief of Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos Sergey Dubik announced earlier in July that, under the agreement, at least three GLONASS stations are expected to be placed in China � in the cities of Shanghai, Urumqi, and Changchun � while three BeiDou stations are due to be situated in Russia � in the cities of Obninsk, Irkutsk and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.