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Three communications satellites launched from Plesetsk

Posted by Editor on Wednesday, 08 September 2010 08:36 | Published in Telecom & Technology
A scale model of a Gonets-M communications satellite

Three communications satellites were blasted into space early today aboard a Rokot launch veicle from the Plesetsk space centre in north west Russia. Spokesman for Russian Space Forces Alexei Zolotukhin said two of the satellites were for military communications while a"Gonets-M" satellite will be part of Russia's Glonass satellite navigation system, an equivalent of the U.S. GPS system.

The launch was completed in normal mode, said Zolotukhin, adding that the Breeze-KM third stage with three satellites on board was scheduled to separate from the carrier rocket at around 09:14 a.m. Moscow time (0514 GMT) on Wednesday.

A total of 26 Glonass satellites were currently in orbit, two of which were not functional. The system requires 18 operational satellites covering Russian territory and at least 24 satellites to provide worldwide navigation services.

Previous launch of a Rokot launch vehicle from the Plesetsk space center was on June 2 this year.

A scale model of a Gonets-M communications satellite A scale model of a Gonets-M communications satellite
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