A Review of 36 Years of GLONASS Service from India

Abstract

Since its initial operation in 1982, GLONASS has completed 35 years of service and has passed through eventful journey. Being the first global alternative to GPS, it generated interest among users worldwide. After initiation, the system declined to a period of unstable constellation status; the system has been revitalized and modernized since the end of 2012. This paper presents a concise discussion on initiation, development, decline and revitalization phases of the system and a review on the available research reports which presented the development and advantages of GLONASS as a stand-alone system and as a multi-GNSS component. The paper reviews the experiences of using the advantages of GLONASS from India during its complete service period based on real-time, long-term systematic analysis of data collected over the Indian region both for the initial and the revitalized and modernized phases. Finally, considering the longterm experience of using GLONASS, the paper presents a few issues towards popularization and quality enhancement of GLONASS services from India. This review may be useful in understanding the need, advantages and challenges of using GLONASS from the region.