The media jumped on a May 13 report that Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin had threatened that unless the U.S. allows Russia to install a ground station in the U.S. to monitor signals from its GPS-like Glonass satnav system, Russia would retaliate and “suspend the operation of U.S. GPS ground stations in Russia.”
While the chest-thumping sounded dramatic, it was an empty threat. First, there are no U.S. Government-owned or -operated GPS ground stations in Russia. Second, those Russian government or privately owned units that are there–mainly for geophysical surveys and similar high-accuracy tasks–merely receive the GPS satellites’ precise worldwide positioning and time transmissions. But turning off those receivers on the ground in Russia won’t shut down the GPS transmitters in the satellites, any more than turning off the TV receiver in your living room will cause the local TV station to shut down.
