What Does the Installation of GLONASS Mean Technologically for Venezuela?

By Misión Verdad – Jul 14, 2025

The activation of the atomic clocks and the alignment of the main antenna marked the launch of the GLONASS station installed by the Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities (ABAE) and Roscosmos in Guárico state. This installation is the first node of the Russian system on Venezuelan territory.

“Today’s event is a technological breakthrough and a symbol of the deep trust and mutual understanding between our countries… Russia consistently supports Venezuela on its journey to the stars,” said Ambassador Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov during the opening ceremony.

The new parabolic antenna, about 13 meters in diameter, can reduce the error of the GLONASS signal across the region from the usual seven meters to nearly two meters, according to estimates based on Roscosmos data from ground-based correction stations. This gain in accuracy is essential for precision agriculture, logistics, and future 5G networks. Science Minister Gabriela Jiménez emphasized that the system “will optimize land, sea, and air services” and strengthen Venezuelan technological sovereignty.

The facility is part of a Russian-Venezuelan collaboration that, following initial oil and defense agreements, now encompasses a range of civil and scientific projects outlined in the ten-year Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, signed in May 2025 in Moscow by Presidents Nicolás Maduro and Vladimir Putin.

With the first data flowing through the ABAE fiber optic network, Caracas is sending an important message: there are alternatives to the Western GPS and Galileo systems. Every second, the station’s pulse synchronizes Venezuela with the Russian constellation and opens a new chapter of digital autonomy in the face of external pressures.

Why Venezuela needed its own positioning node
The Russian navigation network, GLONASS, was born in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and launched its first satellites into orbit in 1982. With its current constellation of 24, it offers continuous global coverage. Roscosmos is already sending the GLONASS-K2 series into space, which incorporates more stable clocks and new signals to reduce accuracy from the traditional three to five meters to less than one, according to data from the system operator published by GPS World magazine.

For this precision to be felt on the ground, the orbit of each satellite must be continuously measured and corrected, a task undertaken by the recently launched station at the Captain Manuel Ríos Base in Guárico. Its antennas receive the signal, compare it with the ideal trajectory, and send microadjustments to Moscow. At the same time, they generate an exact time reference in Venezuela that, according to the ABAE, will reduce the positioning error in the Caribbean from around seven meters to about two.

With this narrower margin, the Venezuelan government can maneuver concrete actions. In transportation and logistics, the signal will be used to plot routes for trucks, ships and airplanes with lower fuel consumption, and improved delivery times. In precision agriculture, tractors and drones will be able to sow and spray with less waste of seeds and fertilizers. Cartography and land registry will obtain more accurate coordinates to update maps and demarcate land boundaries. Meanwhile, civil protection teams will have reliable location information during floods or fires because they will know exactly where their crews are and where the risk points are.

In addition to these elements, having such a stable local time source could, in the medium term, help keep 4G and 5G antennas synchronized and coordinate smart grids, two services that require all their equipment to work within the same rhythm. Inside GNSS magazine—an acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System, a term that encompasses all satellite navigation systems such as GPS (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), or BeiDou (China)—notes that timing modules based on these constellations already achieve accuracies of just a few nanoseconds, enough to ensure that calls, mobile data, and electricity flow continues without interruptions.

A binational ecosystem for technological autonomy
Technological cooperation between Caracas and Moscow is currently taking place on several fronts that go far beyond the GLONASS node.

In the healthcare sector, the Russian pharmaceutical company Geropharm and the state-owned Espromed BIO completed the modernization of the Caracas plant, which will begin producing insulin in 2025. The agreement includes the full transfer of manufacturing technology, training Venezuelan technicians in St. Petersburg, and the planned creation of over 100 jobs, with an initial target of three million vials of insulin per year, a figure capable of covering domestic demand and protecting the country against potential supply shortages.

In the IT field, the Venezuelan delegation attending the Global Digital Forum, held in Nizhny Novgorod, agreed with the Russian Ministry of Digital Development on a work plan to train national specialists in cybersecurity, open-source technologies, and artificial intelligence. The program includes support for Russian companies dedicated to healthcare and education using advanced technology.

These plans are part of the agenda established at the 18th High-Level Intergovernmental Commission, whose minutes include 17 agreements to strengthen cooperation in science and technology through 2030, with a focus on geology, petroleum, industrial safety, and university training for hundreds of young Venezuelans in Russian centers.

Minister Jiménez explained that, in addition to astronomy and aerospace, Moscow offered specialization spots in epidemiology and innovation competitions, while Caracas is consolidating this academic exchange through the newly created National University of Sciences “Doctor Humberto Fernández-Morán.”

Russia to Open a Glonass Navigation System Base in Venezuela

Each project contributes a different piece. The insulin plant reduces sensitive imports; training in cybersecurity and open-source programming strengthens the digital infrastructure; the transfer of knowledge in geology and energy updates the country’s productive backbone; and the GLONASS station provides the time and position reference on which all these systems can be coordinated.

Under the sanctions and financial restrictions imposed on both countries, Moscow and Caracas have forged a complementary technological partnership. Russia provides equipment, expertise, and training positions, while Venezuela offers a key market and geographic platform in the Caribbean. Together, they are moving toward industrial diversification and independence from Western inputs.

Under these circumstances, the Guariqueña facility embodies the articulation between space exploration, industrial production, and scientific training to strengthen autonomy and sustained growth.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

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