Three more GLONASS satellites launched

Date: 2/2/2010

Source: GPS World

Three more GLONASS - M satellites were launched in December 2009 and communications have been established with all of them. The three new satellites join a constellation of 19 satellites. One of these is soon to be decommissioned, and two more are undergoing maintenance.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos had originally intended to launch six satellites at the end of 2009. However, a glitch with one of the recently launched spacecraft led to a delay to the launch of three others. The satellites had to be returned to the factory to ensure that the fault witnessed with a satellite currently in orbit is not replicated in the new batch.

The next launch is now scheduled for 11-20 February 2010. With this launch, three more satellites will join the GLONASS constellation, bringing the total number of satellites in orbit to 24, the number required to attain global service level.

ITS Radar International will continue to monitor GLONASS

Key words: Communications, Galileo