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Andrew Kramer on Russia's Challenge to US GPS Monopoly

Though the space race battles of the cold war are long past, Russia is now poised to challenge the US in a twenty-first century technological battle: satellite navigation. This $15 billion market is currently dominated by the US Global Positioning System (GPS), raising fears that monopoly control could lead to a US shut-off in a time of crisis. Russia hopes to introduce eight navigation satellites to complete a proprietary system (Glonass) by the end of the year. Andrew Kramer notes that competition from Russia would not only allay fears of American dominance, it would bolster Moscow’s increasingly assertive foreign policy and make way for streamlined technology in new markets.