MOSCOW (AP) - Russia on Tuesday launched
three satellites to complement its space navigation system, officials said.
The satellites were sent
into orbit on a Proton-M rocket that blasted off successfully from the Baikonur
launch pad in Kazakhstan, said Russia's Federal Space Agency spokesman
Alexander Vorobyov.
They are to join Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, or GLONASS - the equivalent of the U.S. Global
Positioning System, or GPS.
The system, which serves
both military
and civilian purposes, was developed during Soviet times and is supposed to
have 24 satellites. Their number dwindled after the 1991 Soviet collapse, but
the government has earmarked funds to revive the system to its full strength
thanks to Russia's windfall oil revenues.
Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister
Sergei Ivanov said that Tuesday's launch would bring the GLONASS satellite
fleet to 18 - the number necessary to provide navigation services over the
entire Russian territory. He said Monday that the system would be available
worldwide by 2010, for which it would need to have 24 satellites.
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