Russia successfully launched three navigational satellites Sunday from a cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency announced according to Interfax news agency.
Two GLONASS satellites and a new-generation GLONASS-M were sent into orbit aboard a Proton-K rocket, the agency said.
The satellites have military and civil uses and will extend the reach and life of the GLONASS system, which gives navigational information ships, aircraft, spacecraft and ground vehicles all over the world.
There are 24 orbiters in the GLONASS network.
Russian-Launched Satellite Fails To Reach Correct Orbit
In other Russian space launches a joint Ukrainian earth survey satellite launched on Friday has failed to reach its planned orbit, the Interfax news agency said on Sunday.
It was not immediately clear whether the orbit reached by the Sich-1M satellite, launched from the Plessetsk space centre in northern Russia, would allow it to carry out its mission, or whether it would be possible to correct the orbit.
The satellite was launched along with a smaller Ukrainian-built craft aboard a Russian Tsiklon-3 rocket. Both satellites are designed to map the earth’s surface in all weather conditions, and to provide navigational services for ships.
Fire In Russian Space Forces Headquarters In Moscow
Meanwhile, a fire hit the headquarters of Russian space forces in Moscow late Saturday Dec 25., forcing the evacuation of some 20 people, news agencies reported.
It took firefighters nearly two hours to put out the fire, which occurred in electrical wiring between the 10th and the 13th floors of the high-rise belonging to the Russian defense ministry, officials said.
“Firemen have inspected the areas where there is still smoke, and where there are still some flames,” a spokesman quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency said. “We are trying to determine what caused the blaze,” he said.
No one was injured in the fire or the evacuation.
