2010-09-02 15:20

MOSCOW - Russia has successfully put three Glonass-M navigation satellites into orbit early Thursday, said a spokesman for Russian Space Forces.

A Proton-M carrier rocket blasted off from Kazakh Baikonur space center with three satellites atop at 04:53 am Moscow time (0053 GMT), said Alexei Zolotukhin.

From 08:26 am to 09:12 am Moscow time (0426 to 0512 GMT) the DM upper stage of the rocket has put all three satellites into designated orbit.

The launch aimed to increase navigation satellites of the Glonass system, an equivalent of US GPS system. By Wednesday, a total of 23 satellites remained in space, 2 of which were in reserve status.

In late July, a train carrying the carrier rocket slightly collided with a passing train, damaging the entire rocket.

Another three Glonass-M navigation satellites will be sent to orbit on November 30 this year, while on December 25, a Glonass-K aircraft will fly to the space aboard a Soyuz-2-1A carrier rocket for the first time.