Article Posted on : - Jan 12, 2010

A File Photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia on Monday has commissioned one of the three new GLONASS navigation satellites, which were earlier launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on December 14, 2009.

According to a news release by Roscosmos, on Jan. 11, satellite no 734 (position 5 of orbital plane 1) of the GLONASS constellation entered the service.

Russia's GLONASS (GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema) is designed for both military and civilian usages.

Wholly, the navigation system comprises of 22 satellites: 16 operational, 3 in temporary standby due to technical snags, 1 is to be decommissioned and 2 are pending commissioning, as per the news release.