The Government will support GLONASS technology developers

The Federal Government recognized the expediency of setting up a special fund to support the development and advancement of technologies on the basis of GLONASS at home and abroad; the idea was discussed at the 4 September session of the Working Group for GLONASS Technologies Adoption, chaired by Igor Sheremet, member of the Government Military-Industrial Commission.

The Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Skolkovo Foundation will present a proposal to the Government on establishing such a fund and setting up a dedicated science and technology park.

"We believe such a fund to be among the principal GLONASS commercialization tools from the business incubation prospective," said GLONASS Union President Alexander Gurko. "We presently envision the science and technology park not as a building, but rather a community of companies, possibly virtual, which will focus on implementing the projects on the basis of GLONASS."

Head of the GLONASS Union cited China as an example, where two dedicated science and technology parks, focused on developing technologies on the basis of BeiDou – Chinese satellite system, similar to GLONASS – are already operating even before the space segment of the BeiDou system has been fully deployed.

"There is $1.5 billion invested in one of the parks, and about $800 million in the other," stated Mr. Gurko. "Clearly, such a science and technology park requires a special fund, where the analysis and decision-making are faster than in conventional funds and the risks are lower due to its niche expertise. As we can regretfully observe, presently none of the Russian development institutions – not Skolkovo, VEB, Rusnano, or RVC – actively invest into the development of technologies on the basis of GLONASS. This has to be changed and other means to support the developers have to be found, and thus it came to the special fund and the science and technology park."

The special fund to support the developers of GLONASS-based technologies will be established concurrently with a state corporation, charged with coordinating the implementation of the GLONASS Federal Target Program, which includes coherent development of the satellite constellation, the ground control segment, additional functionalities, and support systems. As previously reported, the state corporation is to be founded jointly by United Rocket and Space Corporation, Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, and Russian Space Systems.