Russia launches 3 GLONASS satellites
Posted: Fri, Sep 26, 2008, 7:30 AM ET (1130 GMT)
A Proton rocket launched three Russian navigation satellites on Thursday. The Proton-M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:49 am EDT (0849 GMT) Thursday and placed the three GLONASS satellites into medium Earth orbit. The launch is the latest step in an effort by the Russian government to reconstitute the GLONASS system, which fell into disrepair several years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia plans to launch three more GLONASS satellites by the end of the year and increase the size of the overall satellite constellation from the current 16 to 30 by the end of 2011, providing an alternative to the existing US GPS system and the planned European Galileo network. The launch was also the second Proton launch in less than a week, after another Proton-M launched a commercial communications satellite last week.
A Proton rocket launched three Russian navigation satellites on Thursday. The Proton-M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:49 am EDT (0849 GMT) Thursday and placed the three GLONASS satellites into medium Earth orbit. The launch is the latest step in an effort by the Russian government to reconstitute the GLONASS system, which fell into disrepair several years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia plans to launch three more GLONASS satellites by the end of the year and increase the size of the overall satellite constellation from the current 16 to 30 by the end of 2011, providing an alternative to the existing US GPS system and the planned European Galileo network. The launch was also the second Proton launch in less than a week, after another Proton-M launched a commercial communications satellite last week.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Pentagon dismisses $1.2 trillion cost estimate for Golden Dome
Posted: Sat, May 16 9:36 AM ET (1336 GMT) Cowboy Space proposes 20,000 satellite orbital data center constellation
Posted: Sat, May 16 9:33 AM ET (1333 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, May 21
A Look Back at Hubble’s Most Breathtaking Images
Nautilus — 5:33 am ET (0933 GMT) Greenlight for next two ESA Scout missions
ESA — 5:33 am ET (0933 GMT) The SpaceX S-1 filing is packed with eye-popping deadlines. Here are the most important ones.
Business Insider — 5:31 am ET (0931 GMT) Germany touts pan-German space command amid European push to supplant US tech
Defense News — 5:30 am ET (0930 GMT) Acquisition reform ‘necessary’ but ‘not sufficient,’ U.S. Space Force official says
Aerospace America — 5:29 am ET (0929 GMT) |
