Russia launches navigation satellite

Nov 28, 2011
Russia on Monday successfully launched a satellite for its Glonass global navigation system Enlarge
A Proton-M rocket, carrying the Russian Glonass-M satellites, blasts off from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in 2010. Russia on Monday successfully launched a satellite for its Glonass global navigation system the country's space agency said.

Russia on Monday successfully launched a satellite for its Glonass global navigation system from its Plesetsk cosmodrome, the country's space agency said.

"The Glonass-M spacecraft separated normally from the booster rocket at 15:57 Moscow time (1157 GMT) and was taken under control," the Roskosmos space agency said in a statement.

The satellite on a Soyuz 2.1B booster rocket blasted off from the northern cosmodrome at 12:25 Moscow time (0825 GMT).

The launch means there are now 23 functioning Glonass satellites in orbit, Roskosmos said. The aims to rival the United States' GPS system. In a surprising coup, it is used alongside GPS on the latest iPhone.

Launches of are being closely followed after three of the craft, which would have completed the system, failed to reach orbit and crashed into the Pacific Ocean in December 2010 because of a problem with the booster rocket.

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omatumr
1 / 5 (2) Nov 28, 2011
Thanks for the message.

There seems to be quite a rash of new spacecraft and satellite launches. I don't know what it means, but it is intriguing.

With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA principal
Investigator for Apollo
http://myprofile....anuelo09


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