A ground-based facility for the Russian satellite navigation system Glonass is to be built in Iran, the Russian Izvestia newspaper said Tuesday, citing a decision by an intergovernmental group on space cooperation.

"The Iranian side said it was ready to install elements of the Differential Correction and Monitoring System (SDCM), as well as a quantum optical system on the Iranian territory to maintain the Glonass system," the minutes of the group's April 10 meeting said, according to Izvestia.

The system will allow better positioning accuracy and greater reliability.

Anatoly Shilov, the deputy head of the Russian space agency, said in late April that the accuracy of Russia's Glonass satellite navigation system could be boosted to one meter when used within Russia by the end of the year. By 2020, Glonass should reach a global positioning accuracy of 60 cm, he said.

Currently, Glonass provides global coverage with the help of four such ground-based systems outside Russia: one in Brazil and three in the Antarctic.

Source: RIA Novosti