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Russia to Launch Three Glonass Satellites Friday
Friday, 04 November 2011, 15:58 IST
Moscow: Russia will launch a Proton-M rocket carrying three Glonass navigation satellites from the Baikonur space centre Friday after a 24-hour delay due to technical reasons, a source in the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.
Glonass is Russia's answer to the US Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian purposes. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters.
The launch was postponed for a day Thursday after a malfunction of the switching network was detected during a check of the ground-based equipment at the launch pad.
It will be the first launch of a Proton-M rocket with Glonass satellites from Baikonur since the failed launch last year which destroyed three Glonass-Ms.
"The launch is scheduled for 4.51 p.m. on Friday. The separation of the satellites is expected at 10.41 p.m.," the official said.
Russia currently has a total of 27 Glonass satellites in orbit, although only 23 of them are operational.
According to Roscosmos, two Glonass satellites are under maintenance, one is on a standby, and one recently launched satellite is being integrated into the grouping.
The complete Glonass grouping needs 24 functioning and 2-3 reserve satellites to operate with global coverage.
Source: IANS
Source: IANS
