Other Satellite Navigation Systems - Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications - page 615

• Provide official representation of the GLONASS system and its users at con-
ferences, symposiums, and negotiations;
• Facilitate dialogue with domestic and foreign users of the GLONASS;
• Issue licenses for the use of the navigational services provide by the
GLONASS;
• Certify GLONASS and GPS/GLONASS user equipment;
• Provide official research on the utility of the GLONASS system;
• Promote combined use of the GLONASS and GPS systems.

Information Analytical Center of Coordinate-Time Support
The Information Analytical Center of Coordinate-Time Support is part of the Rus-
sian MCC located in Moscow and provides real-time and a posteriori analysis of the
accuracy and integrity of the GLONASS navigation signals independent of the
GLONASS ground control system [34].

Multifunctional Navigation-Information Center (MNIC) of Rosaviacosmos
The MNIC is part of the Russian Institute of Space Device Engineering (RISDE).
RISDE is the agency responsible for the design of the GLONASS satellite navigation
payload and ground command and control equipment. The MNIC appears to be
primarily tasked with developing the infrastructure for generating differential cor-
rections and integrity information for GNSS, including GLONASS. However, at the
time of this writing, the MNIC Web site was still under construction [35].

Intergovernmental Navigation Information Center (INIC)
The INIC is operated by the Intergovernmental Navigation Research Center and
was established to exchange navigation data between the departmental navigation
centers in Russia and foreign countries. The INIC is responsible for drafting the
Russian and CIS Federal Radio Navigation Plans and hosting international naviga-
tion symposiums. At the time of this writing, the INIC Web site was only hosted in
Russian and was not currently maintained [36].

11.2 The Chinese BeiDou Satellite Navigation System

11.2.1 Introduction
BeiDou is the Chinese name for the multistage satellite navigation program
designed to provide positioning, fleet-management, and precision-time dissemina-
tion to Chinese military and civil users. Currently, BeiDou is in a semioperational
phase, with three satellites deployed in geostationary orbit over China. The official
Chinese press has designated the constellation as the BeiDou Navigation Test Sys-
tem (BNTS). The BNTS supports two types of satellite navigation capabilities:
RDSS and SBAS. The RDSS capability is operational, and the status of SBAS is
unknown. The BNTS provides limited coverage and only supports users in and
around China. The BNTS should be operational by the end of the decade. In the
long term, the Chinese plan to deploy a regional or worldwide navigation constella-